Hello Tanzania

It's happened. The unthinkable. I'm finally at Heri hospital:) We've been here a couple of days now and have started to settle in. The area is really pretty. It's up in the hills only a few kilometers from the Burundi border and also fairly close to the Rwandan border. The weather's nice and it's started to rain some each day as they say we're going into the rainy season.

The job description that we've acquired is that we're going to be helping a contractor who's coming from Canada soon, working with the hospital's computer system, and getting a chance to watch and then hopefully help with surgeries taking place. The other notable thing that has been happening is Neil and I buying, cooking, and eating our own food. Quite the experience. We've been trying to remember just how our mothers used to cook stuff. All the times I should have paid more attention while living at home:)

So far we've just been organizing different areas in the maintenance department and helping sort out and organize the medical supplies in their storage room.

Well I've been sitting here a while (oh that's another thing, the fact that we have internet is amazing) and should let Neil on. You can probably read more about what we've done on his blog.

kwaheri rafikini

Almost There

Well we left Portland on Thursday afternoon and here it is Monday afternoon(Tanzanian time) and we still aren't there:) Neil and I have spent the past couple of days hanging out in Dar es Salaam because our flight to Kigoma isn't till tomorrow morning. Then we'll get picked up and finally reach our destination.

The traveling has been quite interesting..from sitting in the midst of a group traveling from Amsterdam to Nairobi who's idea of entertainment was consuming as much vodka as they could then passing out..or wandering around the plane asking how people were doing:) We spent 10 hours in Amsterdam but were too tired to leave the airport and just slept most of the time. It's good to be back in Africa.

Well not much else has happened so far besides the fact that we wake up at three in the morning and start messing around because we can't go back to sleep. I hope all of you had a restful weekend. Till I write again..

Leaving on a jet plane....don't know when I'll be back again..

Just a disclaimer at the beginning of this post. I'm in the airport and have to leave soon so this may be quite short. Moving on...the past couple of weeks have been pretty fun but today Neil and I are sitting in the Portland airport prepared to depart this world for eight months. We might as well be NASA astronauts.

We have a 10 hour flight to Amsterdam then a 10 hour layover there..so we're going to travel around and see some sights. Then we have a 9 hour flight to Nairobi, couple hour layover then finally we fly into Dar es Salaam Sat. morning at 9:15. All that entails 32 hours of traveling plus jetlag.

This is going to be a journey beyond my wildest dreams, and I'm glad you're there following along and praying for me! We will probably get to Heri Sunday or Monday depending on what flight we can get. Then the fun begins:)

I had decided that I was going to use this blog to tell of my experiences in Tanzania and as a reference to look back upon in the coming years but now I'm not so sure what my blog will be. I'll post stories of what I'm doing and little notes just to let my mom know I'm still alive:) but I also think that maybe this blog will be a growing experience. A way to express myself and what I'm feeling so others can read but mostly for myself.

Ok, away from the deep stuff. They're about to board the plane so I'm going to wrap this up and put a bow on it. For other stories of what we're doing you can read Neil's blog. There's a link to the right for it. It provides the pictures for my stories and Neil's succinct depictions of what happens:)

Well adios, goodbye, farewell, and kwaheri

pray for us, thanks