This is Africa

I had the afternoon off today, so I thought I would take some time to catch everyone up on what in the world I have been doing since I left New Jersey in quite a frenzy.

My plane rides were pretty uneventful, and I met a few fellow volunteers while I was at JFK, so I was never really traveling alone. When I got to the Tanzanian airport and cleared customs which wasn't much of a process at all, Didas was waiting for all of us to whisk us away to the CCS main house. I use the word whisk very lightly because we were in a small bus for what felt like hours and got to the house in the dark, had dinner, and went to bed. I am staying at the summer house with most of the other volunteers which is a bit of a walk down the dirt road and around the corner. I have to make sure to remember to turn where there are old tires on the roof of a house. Anyway, my roommate's name is Brooke, and she is a social worker from Maine. She has been to Africa before, so she has been super helpful.

The next day we had an orientation in the morning after breakfast and got to know each other a bit. I am traveling with a really great group of people from all over the world. There are a couple teachers, lawyers, and even an event planner of a variety of ages. We talked about expectations and concerns and learned a song which I can't remember. As I'm sitting here I am realizing that all of this happened yesterday, Sunday July 11th, but it feels like it happened a week ago.

Moving on, we all spent the afternoon visiting some sights around town including the Kaole Ruins, a house that was the resting point for slaves and slave traders before the trek to Zanzibar, and the Catholic museum. It was so much information to take in, and I kinda wish I was better about taking notes while I was there because I am having a hard time remembering anything I learned yesterday. But I did see some monkeys playing in the sand near a huge area of mangrove trees at the site of the ruins. It used to be the main port until all of the mangroves basically took over and made it impossible for boats to get in. That's the fun fact of the day...enjoy it. The Catholic museum was interesting because it had all kinds of things to look at including some carvings and information about slave trade, and there were even some examples of what some record books looked like. Oh and I also learned that the east African slaves were transported through Zanzibar to the middle east and India whereas west African slaves were transported to north and south America. West African slaves were allowed to reproduce and have families, but east African slaves were not which is why you do not see many Africans in the middle east and India. Amazing stuff. We finished up the excursion with a short trip to an outdoor market which was more like an art gallery. I think I am definitely going to bring some art home with me and maybe a carving of a hippo or something.....so many things made by such talented people.

Since it was the day of the finals of the world cup that just happened to be taking place on the same continent where I am currently residing, we just had to find a place to watch it. After dinner, a few of us walked over to an outside bar called Hillside where we enjoyed some Killamanjaro beers and some of the game. The highlight/ frightening moments of the night were the bathroom encounters. I use the term bathroom loosely because while there were sinks and running water and locking doors on the stalls, inside the stall was nothing more than a hole in the ground. YIKES!! There was no way I was going to be able to make this happen. So I went in the first time and got as far as locking the door. I came right out and thought that this was just not going to happen. Unfortunately, I had to face my fear several minutes later when I just could not wait any longer. Luckily, Sheila saved the day in true Mighty Mouse style and walked me through the process with encouraging words the whole time. It is an amazingly triumphant feeling though to survive and be somewhat successful at a task like that. Hooray for me. I didn't watch much of the game, but I got to know some of my tripmates quite a bit. It was just a beautiful night. The sky is so black here at night and you can see so many stars...unbelievable. So picture this, beer in hand, good friends, perfect temperature, outside under the stars, and world cup finals in the background. What a fantastic second night. It is only going to get better :o)

Made it to Tanzania

Well I did it, I'm finally here. There is so much to write about, but I am down to about 5 minutes before I have to go on an excursion with the group. Things are going really well, and everyone on the trip is awesome; we bonded instantly. I guess that is what a trip like this does to people. You become instant family. We have been going nonstop since I got off the plane which is a good thing I guess, but there has been no time to write about all of the amazing things I have already done. More on that later when I can get my thoughts straight...

Adventures at the Embassy

While the title of my post may seem like my visit to the Embassy was a fun experience, but I did run into a couple problems. I'll start at the beginning...

I knew that the first thing that I had to do when I got to New Jersey was take a trip to New York City to visit the Tanzanian Embassy to get my visa. I can't get into Tanzania without it. So, my mom, dad (he was on his way to work) and my sister Kate hopped the train into downtown. We got there just as the office was opening, and everything seemed to go just fine. I had all my documents and the lady said that she would send my passport and visa out on Tuesday (this was Friday). Perfect, now I could relax.

Not really...In the meantime, my family had a 4th of July party, I went to Philly to see my sister's house, and took a trip to the Jersey Shore to see my grandparents. It was great to see everyone, but I was anxiously awaiting my passport to come in the mail and it was already Wednesday afternoon. There was no envelope to be found, so I went to the UPS website to track it thinking that it was in transit and it would be here shortly. NOPE! It hadn't even left the Embassy!

This was a huge problem. It was Wednesday night and I was leaving early Friday morning. The only thing I could do was hope that all my paperwork was completed but still at the embassy for me to pick up in person on Thursday.

I got up really early today after having nightmares about not getting my passport in time or finding it at the last minute after chasing down the UPS man. I called the embassy to find out that they were actually closed on Wednesday (I had a moment of panic though when I thought that Thursday was actually Wednesday and that I was out of time, but I got my days straight again).

I called and called until someone picked up the phone. After being put on hold for quite a while so they could "find" out the status, I was told that it was ready. I was a bit relieved that it was still there, but that started a new adventure. Cars, a bus, ferries, a taxi, and an embassy visit later, I had my passport, visa, and immunization card in my hands along with the very expensive envelope that I bought that never got used. Oh well, the important thing had been accomplished.

I spent the rest of today getting everything packed and doing some last minute shopping. Tomorrow morning at 6am starts the uncharted territory that is my summer this year. Wish me luck, and I'll post soon.

Ouch!!!

One of the daunting tasks involved in traveling out of the country is the research. Once you start to do some research, you find all sorts of things that you need to do before you leave. Besides learning Swahili, I had to get some immunizations or shots to keep me healthy while I am away from home.

Sometimes countries require certain immunizations in order to enter the country and Tanzania is no exception. Yellow Fever is the one that I have to show proof of having, but like I said once you do some research, you find all kinds of other things to do. In my case, after visiting my doctor and the health department it was determined that I had to seek out a travel clinic. This place was great though, and if anyone is ever in need of any kind of travel medical info, find one in your area. They put together a folder of information about all of the possible diseases that I may encounter (really great bedtime reading! :oP ) and spent lots of time talking about all of the important things that I need to do to stay alive.

After a lovely conversation, three prescriptions, and 6 shots (three in each arm), I walked out to the desk to find the nurse distressed and hunched over her calculator. "This can't be right she mumbled. Did the doctor go over pricing with you?" I told her that I knew the damage, but she kept trying to make the amount go down. It ended up being.......drum roll please........$736!! And no, insurance doesn't cover things like this.

So now I have two very sore arms, but side effects have been minimal no organ failure here.

This week I am at the ASCD conference in town gaining all sorts of great information about helping Thacker go global!

My next big task to come, since I know you are all so excited about this, is making my appointment for my visa on July 1st. I have to go into New York City, so I am sure I will run into all sorts of things to write about. Stay tuned.......

Wild Goose Chase

The school year is officially over, so that means I am that much closer to my departure date. This also means I have about a million things to do before I leave. Luckily, Cheryl found me a great flight out of JFK with only one stop in Dubai. Yay hooray for Cheryl! It looks like this set of flights will be longer than traveling to Australia.

On to the wild goose chase. Today was the day for me to figure out how I was going to get the long list of vaccinations that I needed to enter Tanzania. I first tried my doctor, but to no avail. Because all of the things I need are not normal I needed to go to the health department. So that's where I went today, and boy was it crowded. Sadly, they were only able to tackle 2 of the shots I needed, so they gave me a shady looking scrap of paper with just a phone number on it saying it was the number for a travel clinic. I then called the shady number and left a message hoping for a reply. While waiting for the phone call back, I went to the bank to tell them that I would be leaving the country and to please let me use my debit card while I'm away. (I had an incident in Greece a few years back) After a strange look from my teller about where I would be going, I was on my way again.

A few hours later, it was determined that they were able to inflict all necessary pain that I would need for my adventure, but that it would cost me several hundred dollars. Awesome, I really wanted to pay more money for this trip. Oh well, it's all about the experience and part of the experience is all the stuff you have to handle before you go.

Flight Booking Fun

Today's task was to work on finding a flight that wasn't going to cost me a rediculous amount of money but also enable me to have a somewhat comfortable flight without sharing my seat with chickens. I think I have found one on Emirates Airlines which has a great reputation according to some people I know, and my flight attendant will not be a goat. I will only have to change planes once...victory. The ride home will be another story. It is looking like a 9 hour lay over in JFK before I can get back to Orlando booo!

My next big task is to start learning Swahili. So far I am doing great. I know hijambo, jambo, simba, asante sana, bia, and that's about it for now. I am doing great though because I have ordered a book, and my CCS coordinator has sent me a booklet of lessons and some flash cards for me to practice. Too bad Rosetta Stone doesn't have Swahili as one of their language options. I would be all over that.

Only 3 days left in the school year now, so I am that much closer to my African adventure!

She's going where?

Tanzania, that's right, I'm serious. I will be traveling to Bagamoyo, Tanzania with Cross Cultural Solutions on July 9th for 4 weeks! I have no idea what I will be doing while I'm there, but it is sure to be an adventure. Already I have found out that I should be aware of my hovercraft being full of eels. Yikes!

Here's some logistical information for all of you. Bagamoyo is located on the coast of Tanzania and about 70Km north of Dar es Salaam which is the capital city. I will also be a boat ride away from Zanzibar which was the original Spice Island. Check out the map below.  Kwaheri!


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