For the Blog........"After 26 hours of flight time, multiple taxis, one host home stay, one missionary home stay, 2 hilarious days packed like sardines in a bus where the BO could make even someone with no sense of smell gag, meal of baboon butt, one elephant and giraffe spotting, and one rooftop Land Rover ride with the luggage, I have arrived."
To us...."Hey, arrived safely to the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, and I thought Montana was out there!!!! This place is beautiful, peaceful. Going to be good. Rode on top of an awesome Land Rover on top of the luggage to get here after the bus, we almost lost Scott off the back. Other missionaries are great. Only have signal at certain places so texting will be interesting. Great houses, very nice and homey, comforters on beds, no electricity, generator at night."
"Baby steps, trying not to let my mind wander far into the future as the villages are so primitive. Gonna do some reading and journaling to get my mind off stuff. We are staying with one family now but will be moving into another home when that family leaves for a bit. I think everyone is dealing in their own way, you know? No Skype, computer once Brook gets her plan back up in a few days, only electricity at night for charging etc. Standing at the Reception Tree....think I'll call.".......which she just did....fascinating that she can be standing by a tree, the only area with reception, and from the western edge of TZ, call home. Amen to technology!!!!!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Text messages from the bus...
All are text messages I've received from Hannah since yesterday....(this is her mom)
"One girl said, "I've had a nervous stomach ache the whole time", ha! I'm that much farther adjusted than they are so its good. Guest house is great, ac and all."
"Just sat down in the craziest bus ride, scared to death, scary place with all men, stomach going crazy, long day ahead. Pray hard."
"Here's a good picture to make you smile...4 very white little girls staring off into the distance scared to death."
"We're packed in a bus like sardines, there are baboons on the side of the road, they call it the third world for a reason. Thank the Lord you taught me how to squat, and I think we just ate baboon meat. Each minute is a new overwhelm."
"This ride is like flying into Naples but then driving to Berlin cause that's where you live...and it stinks, reeks, like India, I bet."
"It's been 2 days and I've decided there is nothing magical or dreamy about the third world..."
"Shudder. Probably in the long run, a good experience though, yeah? Walk a mile in Brook's shoes..."
"Daddy, I thought of you today, we were in the bus and the radio was on and all of a sudden the Lion King theme song came on and I was like, "whaaaaaaatttttt?" too funny. Also saw my first elephant today. Love you"
"Made it safely to our first stop, Mbeya. Having dinner now, staying in a home which is a blessing and comforting....... Just grossed out, tired and scared to go to sleep for fear of lack of sleep. Pray, pray, pray."
"Only about 6 hours of travel today and I slept straight through to our alarm, praise the Lord! Our whole team is finally together now too, everyone is feeling homesick, was able to talk to one of the girls I've bonded a little with about it, we feel the same."
"Scott's gonna be great. Yup, you sung me to sleep and it calmed my mind and and my body. We are heading to second bus."
"One girl said, "I've had a nervous stomach ache the whole time", ha! I'm that much farther adjusted than they are so its good. Guest house is great, ac and all."
"Just sat down in the craziest bus ride, scared to death, scary place with all men, stomach going crazy, long day ahead. Pray hard."
"Here's a good picture to make you smile...4 very white little girls staring off into the distance scared to death."
"We're packed in a bus like sardines, there are baboons on the side of the road, they call it the third world for a reason. Thank the Lord you taught me how to squat, and I think we just ate baboon meat. Each minute is a new overwhelm."
"This ride is like flying into Naples but then driving to Berlin cause that's where you live...and it stinks, reeks, like India, I bet."
"It's been 2 days and I've decided there is nothing magical or dreamy about the third world..."
"Shudder. Probably in the long run, a good experience though, yeah? Walk a mile in Brook's shoes..."
"Daddy, I thought of you today, we were in the bus and the radio was on and all of a sudden the Lion King theme song came on and I was like, "whaaaaaaatttttt?" too funny. Also saw my first elephant today. Love you"
"Made it safely to our first stop, Mbeya. Having dinner now, staying in a home which is a blessing and comforting....... Just grossed out, tired and scared to go to sleep for fear of lack of sleep. Pray, pray, pray."
"Only about 6 hours of travel today and I slept straight through to our alarm, praise the Lord! Our whole team is finally together now too, everyone is feeling homesick, was able to talk to one of the girls I've bonded a little with about it, we feel the same."
"Scott's gonna be great. Yup, you sung me to sleep and it calmed my mind and and my body. We are heading to second bus."
Friday, May 28, 2010
Ahhhh, sleep.....
Phew. After coming through the original Hannah "freak out" stage, I've now been in country for about 36 hours and have experienced so many firsts, it's hard to count. One of the best firsts was a rather refreshing but chilly faucet shower. That's right, full shower by faucet. One of the most distinctive things about Africa so far has been the smell. It's indescribable but completely distinctive and it goes away with the rain which is a wonderful experience: African rain. I've had the wonderful blessing of spending the past 36 hours with the Mitchell family who not only graciously took me in but gave me my first introduction to Africa. In the first 36 hours I've visited the local supermarket, a beautiful beach, a local South African woman's house who makes furniture out of old tribal boats, driven through more potholes than I ever have in my life, and slept under a mosquito net--- not just because they're decorative and cool like Pottery Barn claims them to be. I met Brook late in the afternoon today and the moment I met her all my nervous anxiety flew away. Amen! We grabbed some food and jumped in a taxi to take a crazy (very comforting when your taxi driver leans over you and says, 'Let me just lock your door", gulp) ride to the airport to get the girls and we all hit it off immediately. We leave tomorrow for our first full day on the bus which is getting more fun sounding by the moment. I wish I could write down and share every thought with you-- from the 6 year old who kicked my seat the entire 12 hour flight to the fact that I couldn't even take a picture my first taxi ride because I was so engulfed in what I was looking at. I will do my best to cover what I can and update as much as possible with our limited internet access. Thank you all for your love and support. Almost hourly I am reminded of God's presence and that I truly was brought here for a purpose. Pray that I will continue to find strength in that and that with each new experience He is growing me more into the person He has created me to be. Growth is not an easy thing and often it can be lonely, but, we've got the creator of the universe on our side and there's no better place than being nestled in His loving hands. Love to you all from Dar es Salaam. Hannah
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Ok so wow. wow. wow. wow. I'll start by being completely honest, I have been so overwhelmed for the past 2 days that I've had a constant stomach ache and I haven't stopped crying. Rediculous? Not in my eyes at the moment. I'll start by saying here I am! A little war torn from the 26 hours of travel and I just keep looking around me with this far off gaze not quite knowing how to handle all of this.
The flights were a little uncomfortable and about half-way through my final flight guess who puked in the bathroom? That would be me. So if you can't tell already, my nerves are getting the best of me.
After coming through customs I came out the doors to meet Africa frantically searching for my name on a white piece of paper among the sea of faces. I finally found it and had my first encounter with a Tanzanian: Mr. Jones. To gain a full appreciation of Mr. Jones, picture the recent film The Blind Side and Big Mike. As I climbed in the back of his cab actually thinking about the fact that I just followed this man I didn't know in a country I've never been to and simply climbed in the back of his car. No time to think about the possible things that could have gone wrong. I took a deep breath. Off we zipped into the busy streets of Dar Salaam and all the pictures I have ever seen about Africa were confirmed. I was so shocked and overwhelmed that I could't even take pictures. All I kept thinking was, "Mr. Jones, you got my back right?" After about 20 minutes we turned the corner and there was the shore and the beautiful aqua blue waters. And floating above the water was a double rainbow and I thought to myself, "Admidst all my doubting and all my second guessing, God paints a double rainbow in the sky to remind me of His promise."My trip ended as we pulled into the embassy housing of Col Tim and Cathy Mitchell. Breath of fresh air. I got a huge mom hug and was ushered into the kitchen and to a bowl of cereal. After some good chit chat, I hadn't spoken English to anyone in 24 hours, I was ushered out of the house by tim and Bennet (3 1/2 yearl old little girl who became my best friend) to the yacht club for a walk on the beach and some pizza. Incredible. First Tanzanian sunset was standing on a beautiful beach with my toes burried in the sand and water. "This is all going to be ok," I thought to myself. I also experienced my first African rain. Magical. Rain sounds different here.
I'm now back sitting in their livingroom with Bennet at my side writing to you all. I think it will take some time before I have clear words for all of this so I ask that you bear with me as I attempt to convey in the most clear manner the craziness that is going on in my head throughout this experience.
Thank you all for your prayers and your support as I ventured out on this, what seems crazy in my overwhelmed mind right now, adventure. Please continue to pray that things become more familiar and less scary/overwhelming.
I love you all!
The flights were a little uncomfortable and about half-way through my final flight guess who puked in the bathroom? That would be me. So if you can't tell already, my nerves are getting the best of me.
After coming through customs I came out the doors to meet Africa frantically searching for my name on a white piece of paper among the sea of faces. I finally found it and had my first encounter with a Tanzanian: Mr. Jones. To gain a full appreciation of Mr. Jones, picture the recent film The Blind Side and Big Mike. As I climbed in the back of his cab actually thinking about the fact that I just followed this man I didn't know in a country I've never been to and simply climbed in the back of his car. No time to think about the possible things that could have gone wrong. I took a deep breath. Off we zipped into the busy streets of Dar Salaam and all the pictures I have ever seen about Africa were confirmed. I was so shocked and overwhelmed that I could't even take pictures. All I kept thinking was, "Mr. Jones, you got my back right?" After about 20 minutes we turned the corner and there was the shore and the beautiful aqua blue waters. And floating above the water was a double rainbow and I thought to myself, "Admidst all my doubting and all my second guessing, God paints a double rainbow in the sky to remind me of His promise."My trip ended as we pulled into the embassy housing of Col Tim and Cathy Mitchell. Breath of fresh air. I got a huge mom hug and was ushered into the kitchen and to a bowl of cereal. After some good chit chat, I hadn't spoken English to anyone in 24 hours, I was ushered out of the house by tim and Bennet (3 1/2 yearl old little girl who became my best friend) to the yacht club for a walk on the beach and some pizza. Incredible. First Tanzanian sunset was standing on a beautiful beach with my toes burried in the sand and water. "This is all going to be ok," I thought to myself. I also experienced my first African rain. Magical. Rain sounds different here.
I'm now back sitting in their livingroom with Bennet at my side writing to you all. I think it will take some time before I have clear words for all of this so I ask that you bear with me as I attempt to convey in the most clear manner the craziness that is going on in my head throughout this experience.
Thank you all for your prayers and your support as I ventured out on this, what seems crazy in my overwhelmed mind right now, adventure. Please continue to pray that things become more familiar and less scary/overwhelming.
I love you all!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Another day another zip lock bag
Another few days closer to estimated time of departure.
For those who are interested, my packing looks like this: cram as much stuff into my 60 liter pack as possible. Just kidding, sort of. I'll be carrying 6 weeks worth of gear in my 60 liter Gregory as well as taking a carry on 40 liter pack (this is what I will be living out of for the first few days in country). I'll be traveling with enough clothing for about 1 week, toiletries, Swiss Mix, Chocolate Chips and Pepperoni by request of our hosts, first aid stuffs as well as malaria meds etc, stuff sacks full of Luna bars and instant coffee, my chacos, sleeping bag, sleeping bag liner, mat, DEET, 30 lb generator, camera and all that goes with it, and I'm sure there's lots that I'm forgetting!
Here's what the first few days in country are going to look like: I arrive on the 27th and am very blessed to be staying in the home of an army family in Dar. The rest of my team arrives on the 28th. We will spend that night in a boarding house and on the 29th we start our 2 day bus ride to Sumbawenga. We break the first day at a local missionary's home where they will feed us and put us up for the night. We then have another full day of travel before arriving in Sumbawenga. This is what they told us the roads will be like: starts as 2 lanes, then becomes 1, and then becomes dirt and if the rainy season has been bad the roads will be so bad we might not be able to get through. Excellent. Seriously though, these first three days I'm so super excited about. An awesome "welcome to a new country" experience.
That's all for today, back to the zip locks.
For those who are interested, my packing looks like this: cram as much stuff into my 60 liter pack as possible. Just kidding, sort of. I'll be carrying 6 weeks worth of gear in my 60 liter Gregory as well as taking a carry on 40 liter pack (this is what I will be living out of for the first few days in country). I'll be traveling with enough clothing for about 1 week, toiletries, Swiss Mix, Chocolate Chips and Pepperoni by request of our hosts, first aid stuffs as well as malaria meds etc, stuff sacks full of Luna bars and instant coffee, my chacos, sleeping bag, sleeping bag liner, mat, DEET, 30 lb generator, camera and all that goes with it, and I'm sure there's lots that I'm forgetting!
Here's what the first few days in country are going to look like: I arrive on the 27th and am very blessed to be staying in the home of an army family in Dar. The rest of my team arrives on the 28th. We will spend that night in a boarding house and on the 29th we start our 2 day bus ride to Sumbawenga. We break the first day at a local missionary's home where they will feed us and put us up for the night. We then have another full day of travel before arriving in Sumbawenga. This is what they told us the roads will be like: starts as 2 lanes, then becomes 1, and then becomes dirt and if the rainy season has been bad the roads will be so bad we might not be able to get through. Excellent. Seriously though, these first three days I'm so super excited about. An awesome "welcome to a new country" experience.
That's all for today, back to the zip locks.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
You should probably check your passport expiration BEFORE you leave......
Well my friends, I'm less than a week out and all the planning and errands are almost finished.
Here's a fun story:
I was on my way to take my current passport downtown to the Tanzanian Embassy to get my visa when we looked inside the passport to find out that I wasn't able to travel on it. "What is that all about?" you might ask? Why yes, that is what I thought too. I have been traveling on my military passport which you are only allowed to travel on if your home address in overseas. Whoops. So I went and grabbed my sad little civilian passport only to discover that it has expired. Big whoops. So I have now spent the past 48 hours standing in line at the less than organized and up to speed express passport office (what I renamed the "DMV of Passports," you all know what that one means) in downtown D.C. (zero fun sir). So today I emerged, still alive, from the office and made it to the embassy to pick up my visa with time to spare. Who knew you could get an express passport for under $200 in 2 days? Awesome.
Here's a fun story:
I was on my way to take my current passport downtown to the Tanzanian Embassy to get my visa when we looked inside the passport to find out that I wasn't able to travel on it. "What is that all about?" you might ask? Why yes, that is what I thought too. I have been traveling on my military passport which you are only allowed to travel on if your home address in overseas. Whoops. So I went and grabbed my sad little civilian passport only to discover that it has expired. Big whoops. So I have now spent the past 48 hours standing in line at the less than organized and up to speed express passport office (what I renamed the "DMV of Passports," you all know what that one means) in downtown D.C. (zero fun sir). So today I emerged, still alive, from the office and made it to the embassy to pick up my visa with time to spare. Who knew you could get an express passport for under $200 in 2 days? Awesome.
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