I'm Here

I arrived in Dar es Salaam on Thursday, one day later than expected due to a plane delay. I spent the evening in a hotel in Ethiopia. It was amazing. I spent the time there with a group of wonderful people my own age: Lionel, Josh, Abdi, Omar and Enoch. We were served buffet style Ethiopian food, which is spicy and delicious. Then we went around the corner to an authentic Ethiopian bar, where I learned how to dance Ethiopian style from a prostitute. I safely got on the plane the next morning and arrive in Dar four hours later, after only sleeping 4 hours in 3 days.

I got off the plane and straight onto a bus to Morogoro. Mama Neema and I were staying the night in Morogoro before catching a bus to Dodoma (Capital City). We were going to Dodoma for a conference on early childhood education, I was representing the Ark Foundation. The first lady of Tanzania was at the conference as well as many UN representatives. I have meetings with them while I am staying here. On Saturday morning we left, taking a cramped bus, back to Dar and then caught a taxi to Boko Village.

I am now in an internet cafe a little away from Boko Village (Boko means hippo). I have my own room with a lock on the door. They painted it blue, installed a light and I have a pretty white mosquitoe net. Since I arrived on Saturday evening there only children that are here are the ones who live on campus. There are two dormitories, two school buildings and an office. The buildings have large windows with wire mesh to keep a breeze running through. I have spent most of my time with Teacher Hassan, a 25 year old Ugandan who volunteers to teach at the school. Everyone is sweet, although there English is lacking. I have spent some time speaking with the students who run PEP, their peer education group, and they are hoping to meet with me so I can teach them all that I know about HIV/AIDS.

The food is wonderful. The children cook meals for everyone, so far I have eaten rice and beans, sweet potatoes and Ugali (which is cooked maize flour). I ate well during my travels with Mama Neema. Vendors run up to the sides of the bus and sell you different kinds of food. My favorite was over-cooked corn on the cob, chewy, smoky and delicious.

I love being here and I want to thank everyone who helped make this possible. I am going to try to write more than once a week, it is easier than I thought to get to use a computer and much faster than I expected.