Sorry that this is a lengthy blog with no pictures, but I bet you have a pretty good imagination. ;D
I have 3 words for you… Bring. It. On.
After a long 32 hours of travel via Ice bus and T.I.A bus we made it to our place of residence in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Before I get into detail about where we are let me recap our travel day. Instead of leaving Jinja, Uganda at 5 PM as planned our bus pulled up at 6 PM. Not to bad for being Africa. Only the luggage compartments on the bus were tied shut with twine. After a quick prayer for our luggage to be kept safe and not fall out on the drive I clambered into a seat near the front and next to the window. Soon we were on our way. At the Uganda Kenya border we got off and walked through getting our passports stamps. After some confusion at the Kenyan window we walked on through to meet our bus. It was no where to be found and we were surrounded by beggars. Thanks to our men’s quick thinking we walked back through the gate to wait for our bus. About 2 hours later our bus came through and picked us up. By now it was getting cold outside so we closed all the windows the best we could. Remember this is Africa and things are not always in the best condition. The roads in Kenya are super bumpy and the windows did not stay shut. I dug through my backpack and found my sweater and my wrap and my socks. I was so thankful that I did not throw those in my luggage. I tried to sleep but I found myself curled up into a ball with my teeth chattering next to my teammate Jake who is about 6’ 7” and also curled into a ball shivering on his seat. We finally fell asleep curled up in balls huddled together with my little wrap thrown over us only to be woken up a little while later to switch buses in Nairobi.
This new bus was pretty much Africa summed up. Broken windows repaired with wood boards or plastic sheets and everything rattled on the bus, the shocks were shot, under Nikki’s seat were chickens in cages, and the smell of African body odor was present in abundance. I am praising the Lord for motion sickness medicine because the only seats open were at the back of the bus and every time we hit a bump, which was like every 10 seconds, I literally flew out of my seat every time. Apparently even Africans get motion sickness on their roads because someone threw up the complimentary boiled egg, samosa, and chapatti we were given. We were in for a very long ride. However crossing the border into Tanzania was what I imagined Africa to be like. The wide open Serengeti, red dirt, mud huts and thatched roofs, people dressed in traditional tribal clothing, herds of goats and cows being watched over, mountains in the distance. It was beautiful and I thank God for allowing me to see this part of his beautiful creation. After a few stops to use the restroom in the bush we stopped at a place to get food and wouldn’t you know it we caught up to the rest of our squad, who unfortunately were stranded there because their bus broke down. We didn’t stay there long, but said a quick prayer fro protection over them . As night began to fall the stars came out and they were the second brightest batch of stars I ever saw. Remember we were still in the bush and no light was to be found except the headlights on our bus. Eventually we made it into Dar Es Salaam and stopped at one bus stop to be told by the driver that we were getting off at the next station. So we stayed on and rode the little way to the station located in the sketchiest part of town only to find out from our pastor that we were supposed to get off at the first stop. T.I.A.
We finally arrived at our house for the month at 2 AM. It’s not a very big house and it’s currently under construction, but it’s nice to have our own place this month. Now this house fits 7 people just fine, but for tonight we had to fit 21 people and the next night 61 people. (thankfully some teams continued onto their locations and left us to only have to fit 2 more teams into our house, but the landlord said they could stay in here place.) So we did what we do best and spread out. The women took the three rooms stacked our bags and fit somewhere in between them all. The men camped out in the living room sleeping on the “couches and chairs” or the remaining bags. I’m sure we were quite the site to see.
A few of us decided to go to the beach, which is only a 20 minute drive via tuk tuk from our house, to try to at least wash off the feel of travel day dirtiness. The Indian Ocean is beautiful when you look way out and the beach is pretty, but the water is a little murky and seaweedy where you can swim. We enjoyed splashing about in the waves nonetheless and marveled at God’s creation. Soon the time came when we were hungry and sticky from the salt water. Not wanting to go back to the house to have a delicious meal of breadcrumbs (the bread got pummeled during our travel) and peanut butter we decided to sneak into a resort. They let us order food, probably out of pity for the weary looking mzungus. It was so delicious to have close to an American meal. I ordered grilled chicken with lime and potatoes, which were French fries, but they were good. Now you know you are on the world race when you walk into a bathroom at a resort and after smelling their soap decide to wash your body and hair with said soap. We took turns guarding the door to the bathroom in case anyone tried to come in. Again we were a sight to see.
Let me tell you a little about our house. We have one western toilet and one squatty potty but not really any running water. Outside is an outhouse with a squatty and massive roaches. Because of no running water we have two barrels of water outside. That water is for bucket showers and now since there is only 7 of us we decided to use the water to pour down the toilets inside to flush. Our power comes on for a few hours every night as well so we all try to conserve our electronics’ batteries as much as possible during the day. The people of Tanzania are friendly sometimes overly to friendly and will not leave you alone and communication is pretty much hand gestures mixed with basic English and the little Sawhili we know. Our Pastor speaks English, but even communication with him is difficult and sometimes frustrating because the meaning of our words get lost somewhere. All I have left to say is Bring It On month 10.
