So after landing we left the plane and there were some staff welcoming us, this made me grin like a cheshire cat! Then we walked across the tarmac to the arrivals gate in pitch black. On this little journey my heart gave a little leap, I'm really here, after all the dreaming, planning, organising and traveling, I've actually made it to Africa on my own! Got into the arrivals area and filled in an arrivals card, then proceeded to the visa desk. The woman was clearly a tough cookie and a bit intimidating. I handed my form then she demanded "$50!" I'd forgot about that bit so started rooting through my bag for cash. She was clearly getting peeved off. She stamped everything and shooed me away. I was trying to collect the forms, passport and close my bag with all my belongings back in and she barked at me "desk 2!" I was fully aware of where I needed to go, just wasn't quick enough, and this telling off made me all the more flustered. Finally escaped and got my visa entry stamped then through to the luggage carousel where I had a battle with a luggage trolly. I must've looked such an inept, clueless mzungu! A woman insisted on helping me, I vaguely remember reading that flycatchers will do something nice then demand money. She kept saying she wanted to help me, told her thanks but I don't need help and I've someone meeting me.
Got my bags and off through customs-nothing to declare. Through the doors and a mini sea of people and while I'd put my WaCT hoody visibly on front of my trolly I didn't have my glasses on, and with the dim lighting too I struggled to see the sign to indicate who was collecting me! He started waving it and came over. Introduced himself as Tom, said 'Karibu' and told me Fred (the Tanzania WaCT manager) sends his apologies but he's at Maasai with some of the other students. It was late so just driving to the house, sleep and he'd pick me up about 11am for orientation. Sounded good! I nodded off to sleep during the drive to my new home. Then we went kinda 'off road' these bumps resembled the turbulence I'd just recovered from but at least I knew I was on solid ground-just very uneven! We arrived at the house and I was welcomed by Beatie, my Mama for the next few weeks. She made some tea and showed me around the house quietly, and another girl appeared in the hall-Valerie. We shared our drink and compared some notes on our courses then turned in at 5am!
It was nice to finally climb into a bed after all the traveling! Woke up about 9:30 and went to the kitchen where I found another woman. Said good morning and with her limited English and my even more limited Swahili I finally got across that I'd like a shower. To my confusion she boiled the kettle! She then poured the hot water into a plastic basin and took it to the shower room! That's when I realised there was no hot running water and I was stood there trying to figure out how to wash my hair and shower with 1 basin of water on the floor. It was tricky at first but I've become a bit of a pro at bucket showers now :)
Tom came to collect me and we went to the hospital to collect Valerie then we headed into Arusha. Along the way Tom pointed out amenities I may need, corner shop, supermarket, where to get a dala-dala from/to which is the public transport - it's basically a small minibus that can usually seat 12 passengers tightly but we often saw dala-dala with perhaps 20 passengers-not for those who suffer claustrophobia or the faint hearted! The driving (as expected) is manic. Lots of over taking just in the nick of time; parked cars or dala-dala that are moving off don't wait for a gap in traffic really, just pull away and whichever vehicle is already travelling has to get out of the way! But considering I'm a bit of a nervous passenger in the UK I didn't flinch once, felt completely at ease with Tom at the wheel.
When we arrived at Arusha it was a typical city centre, a lot of hustle and bustle and more crazy driving along with people pushing huge carts of produce, people draped in trainers and belts as lots of roadside traders. We went to a place called the Policemans Mess where we had lunch; rice, beans, veg and barbecued chicken-it was a food mountain and it was delicious but I couldn't fit it all in, Tom seemed quite surprised I was unable to finish the food. We then went to the beureau de change and to go get a local SIM card, that turned complicated but that's a long and unnecessary story!
Then Tom took us to the Maasai market where crafts and gifts can be found. He warned us that the stall holders will try and charm us and will say they're giving a discount but really it'll be a mzungu price, so always barter and start at 50%. It was actually quite intimidating for a first day experience and even though I bartered I still got conned, which I didn't realise til much later in the day when it clicked that I'd confused the exchange rate! Well lesson learnt!
Then back to the house where Valerie and I aat on the porch in the evening sun and talked; she told me about her experience of the hospital so far and we got a glimpse of Mount Meru-Kilimanjaro's little sister which sits behind Arusha at 4566m high. Much later in the evening the other 4 students arrived back from Maasai along with Fred. These were the girls I'd been getting to know through Facebook and it was lovely to finally meet them properly. Dinner was served (more huge portions) and they shared some of their experiences with the Maasai. It sounded amazing and I couldn't wait to go.
So much happened and I couldn't believe I'd not even been in Tanzania 24 hours! The next 4 weeks seemed like an eternity-in a good way :)
oh yikes Jo... am on the edge of my seat now waiting for the next installment! (I'lll have to get off it though to head out for my last link visit!)
ReplyDeleteThinking of you - Jan