We made it to Africa!!!!

 We arrived late Friday night and were greeted by Fred at the airport. The drive from Dar to Morogoro was a little crazy. Imagine driving in NY times 1000. They don't have many traffic signals and people are weaving in and out of traffic on foot and on motorcycles. I closed my eyes a lot of the way and prayed an imaginary rosary.

After driving for about three hours we arrived in Morogoro and were dropped off at the St. Thomas Center. It is beautiful, tropical and we have a view of Mt Uluguru. The people here are so friendly. They make us breakfast and dinner. We have basically ate the same thing. Rice, vegetables and more rice. It's all healthy and the fruit is amazing!!

Saturday we walked to a Rock Garden with Fred's brother in law. He is in secondary school and speaks pretty good English. We rested most of the day and went to bed early.

Sunday was our first real day exploring Morogoro. We went into town around 9 and walked around. We are definitely the only white people in the town. Actually, we saw one European girl this morning. Anyways, Sunday we went to church with Fred. It was three hours long, but was a beautiful service. Fred sat next to me and translated most of it. Then he had us come to the front and introduced us. He asked Laren to play a song on the keyboard and sing. There was about 200 people at church. At first they laughed a little. They may not have heard music like Laren's before. By the end of the song they were cheering and clapping. Don't worry I got it all recorded on my camera!!! Best purchase for sure! After church we walked around town and took Fred to lunch. I was excited to try different food. Nope, rice and greens again with a mystery meat on top. I think it's goat sometimes. I just keep telling myself it's chicken, it's chicken! We were really tired after church and walking around so we went back to the St.Thomas Center and rested.

Monday we woke up really early and went to pick up Nico (Fred's brother in law). We have  driver that Fred uses to take his children to school. He's nice and knows some English. We met a woman who lived on the mountain that Fred knows and she took us up the mountain. I can't believe these people live way up in the mountains. I don't think they have had visitors like us in years. Everyone smiled and welcomed us as we hiked up the mountain. Nico has jeans and sandals like it was no big deal hiking this mountain. I was packed for any disasters with my first aid kit and all. They didn't even break a sweat. Some women laughed at my tennis shoes. No one wears tennis shoes here and everyone is always dressed to the nines no matter where they are going. After the hike we went to the pool at the Morgoro Hotel. We took Nico with us. He didn't know how to swim so I tried to teach him with a piece of a paddle board. He wasn't having it and stayed in the shallow. We went home, took naps, ate dinner and watched a DVD we bought from a guy at church. It had english subtitles, but was rather strange.

Today we met Fred and are now at the internet cafe in town. It's next to a huge soccer (futbol) stadium and I can hear people cheering on a game!! Not exactly sure what we are doing the rest of the week. We are leaving to go to Kibaya on Saturday. I will come back here this week and check my email again!! Look forward to hearing from everyone in the states! Don't worry about us! We are safe, well fed, well rested and happy!! I probably won't be able to upload or send pictures from here.... maybe in Kibaya!!!

Love you all!
Aimee and Laren

                                                  Mt. Uluguru where we hiked

10 days and counting!

So, we're down to 10 days until we leave for Tanzania! The past 7 months have flown by with grad school and teaching. This weekend I started to pack. Laren will be fine. He will just take some clothes out of the closet and put them in a bag. As high maintenance as he appears, he really only needs hair gel and a toothbrush. I on the other hand have the fear that I need to be prepared for absolutely anything. Any other time I've traveled there's always a store within a few miles that I can get the necessities from. Well, that's not happening here which means I'm going to be prepared for any possible thing I can think of. Crazy? Maybe.. But it's the teacher in me and I just can't help it.

We've gotten almost everything accomplished on our "before we leave "
packing list except a few things. I'm so thankful my friend Becky is going to stay at our house most of the month. Our fur babies will be so happy to have her here, but I'm sure going to miss them.

My grad school semester ended way earlier than planned so I'm just coasting through the rest of the school year. We had two snow days this year which pushed the last day of school back to the day we leave.

I feel bad not spending the last day of school with my students, so we're going to celebrate the day before. They have so many questions about where I'm going and what I'm going to be doing there. I showed them some videos I found on YouTube and pictures of Tanzania. After the video was over I knew they'd have lots of questions and I was so excited to tell them all about my trip. I teach 4th grade and I what I love about that age is their sense of humor and the fact that most of them have no filter and say whatever is on their minds. Of course they wanted me to bring them elephant poop ( we read about the different things people in Africa ha used it for). Something about the word poop is just so funny when your teacher says it.

What we talked about the most was how the schools are so different and how lucky we are to have the things we need in order to learn. As a teacher I feel frustrated when we don't have the latest technology in our schools. I know this trip will really resonate with the teacher in me more than anything.

The Simple Life

Part of the challenge of this trip (for me at least) will be leaving all of the luxuries, technology and comforts we are used to.  Due to grad school, my job and my slight Facebook addiction (I will admit it), I have yet to start the digital detox that I had planned on starting in January.

One of the most exciting things about the trip is that we will be "eating clean". For a while I have only been buying foods with less than 6 ingredients and let me tell you, this has been a challenge. If I can't recognize something in the ingredients list, I won't buy it. We mainly eat fruit, vegetables, any beans seeds and minimal dairy. This is typical to the diet we will consume in Africa, so we won't have to adjust too much.


I have been reading lots of travel blogs with advice on what to pack. We are considering bringing a big backpack instead of rolling suitcases. Every time I travel with a rolling suitcase it's a catastrophe. They topple over, I break the handles and they are so heavy. We will be taking our luggage with us everywhere we go and I just can't imagine lugging around a big suitcase. It will also force us to pack lightly which I have a hard time doing.


We are also researching a lot of homeopathic medicine instead of traditional Western meds. I rarely take any medication, but Laren and I love street meat and will definitely be eating some questionable foods along the way. Whole Foods carries some natural tablets for all different kinds of ailments. I am also stocking up on Activated Charcoal. It's a life saver. After we went to Mexico Laren brought back a stomach bug of some kind that lasted for weeks. After taking activated charcoal it went away. The charcoal absorbs any toxins in your digestive system.

Our Itinerary for the trip

We really do want to be spontaneous on this trip, but I am a huge planner and needed to have somewhat of an outline for the month while we are there.

Here is an outline of our agenda for the month-

5/22- Flight leaves out of Chicago (Thanks to the Ragland's for driving us all there)
          We fly from Chicago to Zurich, Switzerland. We will be staying in Hotel Hottingen in Zurich. It is
          perfect for the night we will be there and close to everything. Holy cow Switzerland is expensive!
          Luckily we are only staying for one night.
          https://www.hotelhottingen.ch/en/

5/23- We will leave Zurich the morning of the 23rd and fly another 9 hours to Kenya. Once in Kenya we
          will have a short layover and then fly to Dar Es Salaam. Pastor Fred will be in Dar waiting for us.
          We will be spending the night in Dar and heading to Morogoro the next morning.


5/24-5/31-  Our first 7 nights in Africa will be spent in Morogoro. We will be volunteering wherever
                    they need us, exploring Morogoro, hiking and relaxing.
 

5/31- 6/6 From Morogoro, we are going to head north to Kibaya, Tanzania. We will be picked up by the  Bishop we are staying with there. Kibaya is much more remote than Morogoro, so it will be an adjustment for us. We will be staying on a compound in a house connected to the church or school ( I can't remember which one). There, I think I am going to be teaching English, or doing something in the school.
 

We are hoping that while in Kibaya we can go to the Massai Village about three hours away. I have only seen the Massai on National Geographic, but have always dreamed of going there.

 

6/7- 6/8 After our stay in Kibaya we will take a bus to Arusha for one night in the Davos Hotel and then two nights at the safari lodge. Through a Facebook contest we won two nights stay at the safari lodge we a wanted to stay at. This was actually going to be one of the most expensive parts of the trip, so we are very excited.

6/9-6/11- Safari at Tarangire Safari Lodge. http://www.tarangiresafarilodge.com/

6/11-6/12- Stay in Arusha two more nights and explore Arusha National Park
http://www.tanzaniaparks.com/arusha.html

6/13-6/18-  5 nights in Zanzibar


6/18- 6/19- Dar Es Salaam and then back to the states!

It's been a while.....

I have been meaning to update our blog, but life has been crazy. Laren is very busy teaching, being in three bands and writing and producing his first musical this year. We thought 2013 was going to be a year of doing "less", but clearly neither of us know how to do that.

We've been working on an agenda for the month in Africa and have a good outline of where we will be and what we will be doing. I have checked several things off of our list this month including; Tanzania Visas, reservations at the safari lodge and reservations for our hotel in Zurich, Switzerland ( we have a day long layover which I am super excited about).

I've also done a lot of online shopping for things I think we need. I am trying to be very practical and really only bring what we are going to need. Laren may need his own carry on bag for his hair products, but I will let that slide.

For Christmas all I wanted was Africa stuff. Laren equipped me with lots of cool stuff I can use on the trip. That night I pranced around the house wearing the headlamp and mosquito net. I never thought I would be so excited to get these kinds of gifts.



         

Living Conditions in Morogoro

Morogoro is in the heart of Mt. Kilimanjaro and we will be walking distance from the town center.  
For a good portion of the trip we will be staying in Morogoro. Morogoro is a smaller somewhat developed town. The modest conditions will include running water (thank God). The water is of limited supply, so we will need to use it very cautiously. No long showers singing my heart out, or letting the water run while I brush my teeth. I have never had to think about conserving water or the thought of it running out. I think that is going to be one of the biggest adjustments for me.

Flights are Booked!

Laren and I wanted to create a blog to keep family and friends updated on our journey to Africa. This trip completely fell into our laps unexpectedly and we know it wasn't by accident. Volunteering and traveling abroad has been something we have always wanted to do. We are both at a point in our lives where we are longing for something more. We are both teachers which gives us the flexibility to travel in the summer. Being teachers, we will never be rich. However, being rich in life experiences is worth more than any amount of money.

I am finishing my Master's Degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) and we are going to be working at a Primary School teaching English while we are there for part of our trip. I love teaching 4th grade, but I know that working with ESL students is what I am supposed to be doing.

After a lot of research we booked our tickets through a great company called ASAP Travel. (ASAP Travel Site) They were very helpful and found us a great deal on our flights. We are leaving St. Louis on May 22nd and will be in Tanzania for a month. Our flight leaves from Chicago, then heads to Zurich, Switzerland. We are lucky enough to have enough time to spend a day in Zurich seeing the Swiss Alps. I am very excited about that. Plus, it will break up the 9,000 mile journey to Africa. From Zurich, we then fly to Kenya for a short layover and then to Dar Es Salaam which is the capital of Tanzania. Fred, who is taking us under his wing while we are there will be waiting at the airport for us. We will then start our trip in Morogoro, Tanzania.

Our agenda for the month is still in the planning stages but there are some must-dos on this trip.
1. 2-4 day safari at one of the game parks. There are several parks nearby, or we can go up north.
2. Spend a few days in Zanzibar.
3. Hike Mt. Kilimanjaro

In this stage of planning we are working on getting our Tanzania Visas and researching the vaccinations we need before we go.We are also going to meet with Fred to take Swahili lessons. Many people will speak English, but we want to make sure we will be able to get around on our own too.

I feel such a mixture of nerves and excitement at this point. The idea of leaving everything I am comfortable with gives me a bit of anxiety, but I know once the initial shock wears off, it will be life changing.

Zanzibar