Boy, do I have some stories to tell.
Let me see where this story begins...last I wrote Matt and I had just arrived in London. That really seems like it was a year ago now. We got up on our only full day there, went out to breakfast and took the tube to Buckingham Palace. We arrived as the changing of the guards had already started but we pushed through the crowds and got a pretty good place to stand and watch as the parade passed on the way out. From there we spent the afternoon on a double-decker tourist bus, which was a lot more fun than I think it should have been. With all the sightseeing and me being sick, we both really appreciated seeing the sights without tiring ourselves out from walking. We got off the bus at the Tower of London and took our book's tour around the compound. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but there was something about it that fell short for me. Maybe I had just unrealistic expectations.
We had a low key night and spent the next morning packing and planning. Matt's flight left in the afternoon to DC and my 20 hour trip to Tanzania didn't start until even later in the evening. After passing off all the formal clothes I had brought for the wedding plus a few other things for Matt to take back, we set out for our last meal together.
In retrospect, we both ended up paying for all the good luck we had up until this point. Matt ended up missing his connection in Washington DC, which was the last flight to Durham of the night, and decided to rent a car and drive the 5 hours back to Durham instead of wait overnight in DC. But he made it home, only to find my car had been broken into while we were gone - I blame our housesitters - just kidding, we totally owe you guys! I had fairly smooth travel, although I had to unexpectedly check one of my bags, buy an expensive replacement UK battery charger for my computer which for some reason got fried in the outlet in our hotel, and then when I arrived in Kilimanjaro, my ride forgot to pick me up. I was left at the airport, not knowing Swahili, and not having a phone to call the guy anyway. Ah, international travel, how I missed you all year...
Thankfully, the people here are the nicest of any I've ever met. A taxi driver let me use his cell phone so I could call my ride. He had mistakenly written down my flight arriving at night instead of in the afternoon, a simple mistake. I ended up paying about double than I would have otherwise to take a taxi the 40 km from the airport into town. But I arrived, met Berny, the project coordinator, and got checked in to the hotel. While it's not very nice by our standards, it has the essentials for proper lodging in Moshi: electricity, hot water for 2 hours a day, a bed-net to protect from mosquitoes, and that's about it. It's not the cleanest, but the owner "Mama-Moshi" is very nice and speaks English, and she let me borrow her cell phone so I have a way of connecting with Berny and the other people in the office.
My first impressions of Moshi are very positive. It seems to have many characteristics of India, but with a much different feel to it. I am overwhelmed with how nice and welcoming everyone is that I meet. Welcome in Swahili is "Karibu" and I've never heard one word spoken so many times. When Berny introduces me people get this huge smile on their face and thank me for coming to their city and their country. The level of development is very similar to India, but people have a much different attitude. In addition to there being much fewer people all together, everyone is very respectful and considerate (except when driving! - I've seen a taxi driver nearly run over a couple of school children who he thought were waiting too far into the street). The streets are dirty, but not because people litter particularly much or pee in the streets, but more just because the roads are dirt, and there's dirt everywhere. There are paved roads, but not many, and the ones that are often don't have sidewalks.
Don't get me wrong, I loved parts of India, but Moshi is much easier to love. This morning I met with some of the participants that will take part in my focus groups this week and I have much more to say about them which I will dedicate an entire post to after we meet tomorrow. It will be a good one, so keep checking. I'm sorry there are still no pictures, I was never able to find a camera cord in Paris or London, and now it would be a futile search. I will provide a summary of photos and descriptions after I return.
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