My first day in Tanzania

Today was long and hot and strange and beautiful. We had an orientation to go over the rules of the CCS home base and program, then spent a couple of hours in the CCS van driving around Moshi town. Our driver, Peter, and house manager, Mama Fatuma, showed us the important stuff, like banks, the post office, coffee shop, etc. The town reminds me somewhat of Mexican border towns - very old buildings with people selling their wares and just hanging around - but with much prettier foliage! The flowers and flowering bushes/shrubs here are amazing...white, yellow, pink, fiery orange. Beautiful!

We had a rain shower early this morning, then the rest of the day was HOT and clear. It's easy to remember that we are close to the Equator! The sun is very strong here.

Because it's Easter today, the town was fairly quiet and we didn't have many activities planned. Several of us took a long afternoon walk to the "Highway Supermarket" - I made the mistake of not bringing my water bottle and got a nasty headache from heat exhaustion. The CCS house is down a long dirt road, the likes of which I haven't seen in the US. The soil here is quite fertile and rocky (I learned that Mt Kilimanjaro is a dormant volcano) and the roads are full of volcanic rocks and huge holes. Riding in the van to get to the house is an adventure! Walking the road seemed easier than driving on it.

The people here are incredibly friendly and curious. Children walk right up to us and touch our hands or give us big smiles (we get called "mzungus" by the kids, which means white person or foreigner). The CCS staff is awesome - they are teaching us a little Swahili and are so gracious and kind. Everyone greets one another as you pass in the street, so we've been learning the various greetings and responses. A casual greeting is "Mambo" (Hey! or What's up?) to which you reply "Poa" (Cool). If you see an elder, the correct respectful greeting is "Shikamoo" to which they reply "Marahaba" - sometimes the little kiddos will greet us with Shikamoo.

A couple of the volunteers who were here before us created a cute book for us with their recommendations for the best restaurants, hotels, safari companies, etc. It was a very nice gesture and will prove to be useful, I'm sure. We have already booked a safari for this next weekend...sounds like it will be amazing!

That's all I have for now. I feel quite safe and think I will pretty easily adapt to some of the cultural differences here. I miss my sweet boyfriend and my friends and family, but am looking forward to the next four weeks in Tanzania!