Tanzania: Arriving and Stuff

August 31st: Monday

What a day. Today I left Uganda and Traveled to Tanzania. For those who don’t know I am staying with an African family in Tanzania for about 8 weeks. My Dad will come in the first week of October and we will climb Mt. Kilimanjaro together. I am staying in Moshi a city very near Kili and the Kenyan border.

The Eldeens took me to the airport at 10:00 where I said goodbye. Then I went through security. Africans have an amazing ability to look completely bored and uniterested with what they are doing. They sort of give the impression that what they are doing is far beneath them and they are doing you a favor by not falling asleep out of pure boredom. I had a couple of hours to kill at the airport because my flight didn’t leave tell noon. Walked around some gift shops and then had a beer. It may be my last beer for a while if Unity’s (Rev. Unity Msame) family doesn’t drink.

Bordered my flight. We flew across lake Victoria and touched down on the other side briefly were we changed some passengers and then continued on to Kili. Amazingly beautiful country. Landed in Tanzania shortly before 3:00 didn’t take me long to get through security and I got a three month visa no problem.

Rev. Unity and two of his kids Amen his son (I think he’s about 12 or 13) and Gloria his daughter (9, 10?). it was anout a 40 minute drive to Moshi so we were able to talk the whole way there which was really nice. I’m glad I didn’t even change time zones when I flew. Moshi is a pretty big city. Bigger than Mbale but smaller than Kampala I think. At least that’s my impression. Unity says they get a lot of climbers here for Kili so it has many hotels and its somewhat touristy. The part of town where Unity and his family live is called Enjorro and is south of the main center of town. Its about a 15-20 minute walk from town. His neighborhood is dirt roads but pretty nice buildings. Its dirty but not a slum at all. Unity says its very safe to walk around during the day.

On the way there I say Kilimanjaro. It rose above the clouds encircling its base. Peaked in snow it towered above everything. It is truly vast. It took my breath away and I thought “I’m going to try to climb that.” Talking about it was one thing. Looking at pictures and maps and reading about hits height but to see it there. It draws me. I can’t wait to take a stab at climbing it.

I have own room at Unity’s house and I moved all my stuff in that afternoon. Africans generally have dinner really late. Between 8 and 9. Unity sensitive to me had dinner with me shortly after 6. that night before everyone else ate we gathered together and prayed. Unity’s family does this every night. Everyone gets together and someone shares something from the bible then everyone sings a song and then prays. Everyone prays at once out loud. It is rather strange to me but it saves time and its kinda cool.