Karibu Tanzania!!

I have successfully made it here in one piece! The long trip was quite enjoyable, thanks to the multitude of free movies on the plane {ndege}, a seemingly constant supply of food {chakula} and the wonderful company of twenty other EWH-ers who I met up with along the way. My arrival in Kilimanjaro airport was seamless after purchasing a $100 visa, the presence of both my bags (still have a perfect record of no lost baggage!!), and a breeze through "customs". We then drove to TCDC, the training center in Usa River where we will have our classes, in order to drop off the medical equipment that we all had a suitcase filled with. And then I met up with my wonderful host family!!!

I was immediately greeted with a huge hug by Hiaka, my host mother {mama}. Her husband {maume}, Adam, and three-year old son, Christain, were also there offering lots of warm smiles. We drove back to their home, which is back in a nice neighborhood, where each house is more like a compound with a gated entrance. I was quickly greeted by a puppy running around outside and the rest of the children who live here. I am still trying to discern exactly whose kids are whose (Adam and Hiaka both had previous children) and their names and ages, but I am working on it. More on the family later.

I have a room all to myself here with 2 beds (in case anyone wants to come visit!), a desk, and shelves to put all of my stuff on. I am living in luxury! It is very nice, though unexpected, that I have ample space to myself. Soon after I arrived, we had a delicious meal of rice, some kind of fish with a creamy sauce on it, and ugali (this is the same as nsima for all you Malawi-ers) with a spinach relish. Ugali is a white patty made from maize and flour, a very common African staple. I am not sure if they know that I am a vegetarian, but I am definitely not going to say anything. I have vowed to eat whatever they give me.

We start our Kiswahili and Engineering classes at TCDC this morning. Hiaka works as an administrator at the training center, so we will travel there together. Although my host family speaks English very well, I really want to try to have some conversations in Kiswahili. It is so hard to resist taking the easy route and just speaking in English {Kiingereza}, but I am determined.

Love and miss you all lots! Hopefully, I will get some pictures up very soon!

Translated Words of the day (requests accepted):
golf - gofu (that's for you, Dad)
chicken(s) - kuku
cucumber/s - kitango/vitango
How are things? - Habari gani?
Fine. - Nzuri.

P.S. In case you haven't noticed, I can't help but randomly give you the Kiswahili translation of words as part of my practice. Maybe you can learn {kujifunza} some too!