Leo moje, day one. 6:15 am. I wake up to the sun not even risen yet and the roosters not even crowing. I tried to go back to sleep to no avail...so I decided to get up and spend some time online. I walk out into the CCS common room (which is in the same house that I live in) to find that the internet isn't on. I tool around for a little bit trying to fix it but give up and journal instead.
Breakfast doesn't get served until 7:30 and I was famished. Other volunteers started trickling in around 6:45, so I got almost 30 minutes of alone time to think and just be in KILIMANJARO!!! Wow, I can't believe I'm here!!
Breakfast itself left a little to be desired -- these really weird biscuits, watermelon, bananas and oatmeal. I guess I can't complain, it's cooked and cleaned up for me!! I might be spoiled when I get back home and have to do all that myself!!!
A group of us decided to go into town. I desparately needed a comb and I wanted to check out Moshi. Our guide, Heather who had been here for about 12 hours longer than we had, led us to town which is about a 15 minute walk. It was still morning, a little before 10, so it hadn't gotten hot yet. The sun was still beating down on us and it warmed up quickly. I can't complain though because I'm here...which still seems quite surreal!! The locals immediately came up to us, mzungu (m-zoon-goo/white people) and began chatting us up. I got to practice my Swahili which most of the locals were quite impressed with! That excited me!! In fact, some of the volunteers are even impressed with my Swahili!!
Moshi was awesome! It's a nice little town and I found a comb, the internet cafe and a bar with no problem. Actually, I have to give props to Sam for finding (and suggesting) the bar. We just stumbled into this hotel and found the bar on the top floor. The view was INCREDIBLE. We caught a glimpse of Kilimanjaro and could see a 360 degree view of Tanzania. It was amazing. The beer was good. I got a Serengeti which was more flavorful than the Kilimanjaro that some of the other volunteers had. Good choice on my part and it had a really neat label with a chui (choo-ee/cheetah) on it.
This was all before lunchtime at 1 pm...A great day already!! Orientation for my program starts at 4 pm. Once the program starts, I'll probably have less time to blog, but I'll do my best!
.JPG)
4 comments:
Jen! I just read LOTS of your blog posts. It sounds great so far... I hope the experience just gets better and better. Can't wait to read more and see pictures.
of course you found a bar before 1pm. good work. i hope you got a hair brush! what a random thing to forget! are you going to come back with dreads?
Hi Jen! Congrats on your swahili comments from the locals! All that studing paid off! and I like that you are sharing some words with us through the blog. Get ready for more and more exciting food....and sights! sounds great!
DJ
I love reading about all your experiences, keep them coming!!
Post a Comment