Natasha Meets Kilimanjaro

Seems I made it to Tanzania in one piece...and had an uneventful trip :) The kind people at Kenyan Airways "The Pride of Africa" let me and the giant camera case on the plane without incident and without extra charges...how nice.

I met Jen, my other fellow Humber intern, at Heathrow and it was nice to have company and conversation for the flight. The best part was the prop plane from Nairobi to Moshi, where we got to glimpse Kilimanjaro out of the window. I of course didn't think it was Kilimanjaro..but seeing as how it was the only mountain around for miles and we were about to land..and all of the other tourists were taking photos of it out the window...It must have been. Here is a first glimpse...ok I can't upload right now..check facebook!)

We arrived on time in Moshi and were picked up by a MUCCoBS driver who was accompanied by Pat (the other Humber intern)...Pat looked a little wild and crazy..which made me think has he gone nuts :) (Hi Pat!). But as it turns out he has used this past month to really get to know the people...and made a lot of friend in the process. Our first stop was the dorm rooms where we will be staying. I have to admit my first thought was...OH MY GOD! I WANT TO GO HOME! WHAT AM I DOING? but then after I had a 4 hour nap...and wiped everything down with bleach..I thought. It's not so bad...what is my problem? So I'll settle in for the next 6 months..and hopefully we can all make our rooms feel a little like home as we try and make Moshi feel a little like home as well. (I've posted photos of the room on my facebook)

We (Pat, Jen and I) ventured into the town last night for dinner. Despite a short power outage, during which I whipped out my handy little flashlight) we managed to get our dinner in under two hours. I feasted on milk tea (like chai but spicier) and chips (fries) with beef fillet on the side. Beef seems to come with everything here...which explains why I have not seen any cows. I have however seen quite a few Masai :)

I am a little worried about my diet over the next few months..but hopefully we can gain the courage to hit the markets and buy fruit soon.

Today was my first day in the office and I finally met Dr. Bee (Bay) and quite a few other people who I will be working with. I hope to remember at least 10% of their names by the end of my internship. I think everyone should walk around with name tags..or at least let me mark them (like that episode of the Office...with the two Japanese waitresses). Breakfast was chappattis...plain..one..along with more spicy milk tea. After lunch we ventured into town and I bought toilet paper, cleanser, a scrub brush, milk powder, tea bags and some water. Tonight we are having dinner on campus...hopefully something healthy..well at least something other than meat or starch.

I have the first few days off to get settled...but my internship is going to start with a heavy workload. I will be collecting data on Humber's five year microfinance project in Tanzania...as most of the data doesn't exist...this will either be really interesting..or just like IPMP (just make up the data!).

We are going to Arusha this weekend..it's more of a tourist town than Moshi, and hope to buy cell phones. Everyone here has them and keeps in touch with text messsaging...our cab driver "Tom" came and picked us up last night after Pat messaged him. So it seems a cell phone is essential...