Travelling, Arriving, First Day

Sunday, January 12, 2014

We made it to Arusha without any drama or trauma. In fact the whole trip was so tediously boring that we might have well been going to visit our grannies in their Midwestern homes.  From the time we left Spokane at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, January 10, to the time we landed at Kilimanjaro Airport at 8:40 p.m. no one got lost, wandered off and had to be found so a plane could leave, or even got sick or had an anxiety attack.  The flight from Seattle to Amsterdam was long but uneventful.  The 2-hour layover in Amsterdam went by quickly, and then the last leg to Arusha was nothing but boredom.  This was nothing at all like the 8-hour layover in Heathrow, where students always got lost or engaged in mischief.  In fact, this group of students is plain vanilla compared to the 2012 group, which was tutti frutti unpredictable.

There were no dramatics with getting our visas at the airport either.  Our travel agent, who arranges all our trips in country, has his man at the airport to meet us and take all our forms, passports, and crisp, new $100 bills right past the long line of weary travellers and into the back office, where they were all stamped and returned in record time.  Then, using my gimpiness as an excuse, we were moved to the head of the next line and whisked through and into the baggage claim area.  There weren’t even any missing bags to get upset about.  Never has African bureaucracy worked so smoothly and efficiently!

Even the ride from the airport into Arusha lacked excitement.  Because it was night, the students couldn’t see much, and there was none of the horrendous, hair-raising traffic one sometimes gets to enjoy.  It was only at the turn off from the main road into Kundayo that my heart began to sing.  I felt the happiest I ever have when returning to a place in Africa.  Driving into the courtyard and seeing some of the staff even though it was 11:00 p.m. was wonderful.  The warm greetings, two-cheek air kisses, and laughter made the weariness of 24 hours without sleep vanish.  I am passionately in love with this place.

John and I are back in our former place, apartment W, and before I finally went to bed last night—or more accurately this morning—I unpacked just enough to let us shower and get to bed in decent order.  Even though I kept waking up every two hours, I got a decent night’s sleep and feel in a day or two more, I should be completely adapted to the time switch. 

This morning, we all met in the courtyard for breakfast at 10:00.  (The students are staying here, too, until Tuesday morning, when their host families will take them.)

I was shocked to see that every single girl was beautifully dressed in a long skirt and sleeved top.  There was no one to tut-tut at or tell to return to her room and reappear more appropriately dressed.  What is going on anyway?  I think I will be bored silly if everyone always behaves completely sanely and actually listens to what we tell them.  What’s the point of me being here for cooperation and order?

Fortunately, at breakfast there were more staff people to greet again, and a huge buffet of fresh fruit, yogurt, muffins, mandazi, and tea, coffee and freshly made juice to keep me happy.  Oh, and then the omelets and scrambled eggs appeared, and I was reminded that just as I used to think my breakfast was complete, I found out it wasn’t.  There must always be eggs, too.  I was also happy to rediscover that Tanzanian instant coffee tastes far better than a lot of American brewed java.  Even Starbuck’s over-priced Via doesn’t come close to the stuff here. 

After breakfast, just before John and Megan* left to take the students on a walking tour of the nearby points of interest, Ray, our favorite taxi driver, arrived to greet me.  There were enthusiastic hugs and two-cheek buzzes all around again.  He had come without his family even though the children were excited that “Bibi” was returning.  He had told them that I needed to rest today, but they could come to see me soon.  So, I sent him off with some of the school supplies and books I had brought for the children: Priscilla, age 9, Goodluck, age 7, and Anita, age 3 or 4 now. 

*Megan Hershey is a young professor at Whitworth who is replacing John as he retires.

One thing that is as it should be is the lack of internet access this morning.  Often on Sunday, connections are impossible for unexplained reasons.  So, I sighed in relief that at least this one small bother still remained to remind me I was back in Africa.  However, how much bother is it when I can write this on my computer in Word and then copy it to my blog later?  Where are the good old days of those thin blue air forms that took weeks to get to their destinations?  Megan told the students this morning that when John and I talk about Africa, we are referring to life in the Congo in the 1970s, which really was much different than urban African life today.  Things are downright cushy these days.

While John and Megan lead the students on a 4-mile walking tour of Arusha in the blazing heat of the day, I began unpacking our suitcases and setting up some sort of order in our 300 sq. foot apartment, complete with kitchen-eating area, bedroom, closet-sized bathroom, and terrace.  The kitchen is even less furnished than last time, so I’ll need to find some bowls and serving spoons, and maybe even another knife and fork, in case we ever have a guest.  Of course, Megan’s group returned almost an hour before John’s, as he always can find more things to point out and explain.  Fortunately, he thoughtfully bought his group Cokes at the New Safari Hotel before marching them through the last leg of their trek. 

Somehow we all managed to stay awake until dinner at 6:00 p.m. when we once again had a lovely buffet set up in the courtyard-garden area.  It’s close to being once again in Eden—though everyone was clothed—and we dined on butternut squash soup, avocado salad, cole slaw, chapatis, baked chicken, green beans, rice, beef stew, vegetarian stew, and chocolate-dipped bananas with tea or coffee instead of apples.  Then, after a brief meeting to announce plans for tomorrow, everyone scattered to their apartments and an early bedtime.