Week one

Well, it goes without saying that the 29 hour journey to Tanzania was a long one. Jen and I ended up asleep on almost every flight which made for a terrible sleep our first night in Moshi, Tanzania. Now that we have adjusted we are loving it. The hostel we are staying in is a series of 3 houses situated around a courtyard with a nice garden and patio for enjoying the sunshine- which there has been a lot of. It's winter here but by Canadian standards it's freakin hot. I don't have my trusty weather network here so I'm not sure of the exact temperature but it peaks at around 30 almost everyday. It seems as if people are coming and going from the hostel all the time because the duration of people's placements are all different. Jen and I will be in Moshi for 7 weeks so we'll be the veterans by the end. There are a whole load of Irish and American students, some Brits and a Scot. New people show up every week so we are going to be making a lot of friends.

Our volunteer placement thus far has been in a health centre just outside of Moshi's city centre. It is a good hour and a half walk each way from the hostel so we have had no shortage of time in the sun. In the clinic we are shadowing the GP as he sees patients and he translates the symptoms/issues to us. We have also been watching some minor procedures- they don't perform anything major at the clinic. Today was our first day at a new hospital- we will be volunteering there for 3 days a week. It is located in the middle of a sugar cane plantation that is absolutely massive- 17,000 hectares. We weren't sure what to expect because it is outside of our current exploration radius but it was beautiful! The plantation is like a city that runs itself. We were treated to lunch and most exciting was the ice cream we had for dessert. Many of us at the hostel have been talking about how nice some ice cream would be. Now Jen and I are going to head back and do a little bragging. We were placed in the RCH (reproductive and child health) clinic today. It was a health education day today so we pretty much got too coo at babies all day which put us both in a very good mood. A good mood that was necessary because the trip back to Moshi was a long one and upon arriving we were mauled by people trying to sell us things- these bits of Africa we are still getting used to. Driving is strange here, the drivers seems to make all the rules. And the pot holes are larger than life so you have to play chicken with the car going in the other direction to see who gets to take the smooth route around the massive crevasse in the middle of the street. Our first day here we saw a car hit a motorcycle that had 2 men on it- not a nice sight. Now, we do 360 degree checks before crossing any street!!

We just had our first weekend to do some exploring. Saturday we went to Marangu Falls which is in an amazing village on the side of Mt Kilimanjaro. We walked through the village and through a coffee plantation to get there. The weather was warm but the water was not. Regardless, some people got in for a swim- I opted to wade. Sunday we explored Moshi a little more and went out for lunch with some of the people who have left today.

That is about all I can account for right now. I'm still getting into this blogging thing. Maybe I can make a rough draft before I hit the internet cafe to make sure I'm getting all the best parts in!

Hugs and kisses to everyone! I do miss home (a lot) but I am definitely enjoying myself.
Lots of love,
Leila

I'm alive.

Hello all! I am alive and well in Tanzania! I'm loving everything about it so far (except for the waves of homesickness.) I have had a terrible time managing my internet time in the cafe but I will post some more stories very very soon.
Love you all.
Leila