Flight and First Impressions... by Jamie B

Hi everyone it’s Jamie! (With help from a few others). Well we made it to Moshi!! Although everyone is completely exhausted from lack of sleep, everyone made it through perfectly fine. The first flight to Washington D.C. was a breeze, except for Leo getting all of his peanut butter and Nutella taken away at security. Then we spent the night at the Best Western hotel, and woke up at 6 am (5 am for everyone back home), and ate breakfast and headed off for our second flight, to Ethiopia. While waiting for our flight some people got Chipotle for breakfast, some slept, and some played cards, which had Morgan freaking out over a card trick Sarah pulled.  Then we boarded the plane, which was ginormous inside and out! It was 9 seats across, and had 4 large sections. Since it was a brand new plane company, we were treated to very nice blankets and pillows, yummy meals (maybe not so much), and best of all, touchscreen TV’s with games, music, movies, and more which helped make the 13 hour flight a little more bearable. Almost nobody got more than an hour of sleep, and right as everyone started to drift off, we heard loud screaming coming from our area on the plane! We turn around and see an adult woman panicked about her unconscious elderly mother in the seat next to her. Once Jeff and Jon got her lying down in the aisle, they ended up getting the airline first aid kit and hooked her up to an IV, with the help of another doctor from Ethiopia. Jeff was able to hear her blood pressure with a pair of Bose headphones! Rumors spread across the plane that there was a dead passenger on board, so most people from the plane crowded around to see what was going on. Finally she was moved to an exit row area allowing her more space, and the IV bag was hooked up with headphone wires to the ceiling. The decision had to be made whether or not to stop in Spain if she didn’t improve in 2 hours, but luckily she made a great recovery and was soon talking to her family.

After that, no one got much sleep, and finally we landed in Ethiopia. Luckily, we had the nicer terminal (according to Mr. McMorrow) but it was still something you would never see in the US. Everyone stared at us because we were mzungus (white people) traveling in a large pack all wearing the same shirt, and many asked if we were playing for their soccer team. Then, we went through a long, angry line of people trying to get through a not-so-secure security check to get to our gate. The layover wasn’t long, but the adventure to the actual plane was quite lengthy. We had to wait in a super unorganized line and down into a basement looking area. Then we loaded a bus which went about 100 feet to the wrong airplane, which we didn’t find out until half of us were already boarded. So then we finally got to the right plane, and it was really nice and almost the same plane as the last plane, even though the flight was less than 2 hours long. The sight of the Mt. Kilimanjaro through the airplane window was unbelievable. Finally, we made it to the Kilimanjaro Airport! We had to fill out immigration reports, then wait in line to scan our fingerprints and get passed to go through. Then we got our baggage, and met Juma and Jessca for the first time, who are the ones who help us out the most in Moshi, both when we’re there and when we’re in the US. Then we took an hour long bus ride to Moshi, which gave us our first real taste of what Africa’s really like, which was really shocking to most of us. Many of us struggled to stay awake considering how we hadn’t had hardly any sleep in over a day, so the ride was quiet. We arrived at the hotel, which is called Hartebeest Lodge. The rooms varied, but we’re all very grateful for what we have. All of the staff are friendly and more than willing to help us and make this a good experience, they even went out and bought someone a bug net because she didn’t have one. Then we had our first “Tea Time,” which we’ll have everyday around lunch to relax and talk about our day so far. Before dinner, there were games of black jack, 500, and Allie and Dan started a game of Frisbee outside, attracting some locals, who really interested in what we were doing, but it was really fun! Then at 6:30 we had our first real Tanzanian dinner, which included rice, beef stew, noodles, chicken, fruit, and some salads. Everyone loved it! Even the picky ones (Morgan and Emma). Then after dinner, the lights went out, so currently we’re all using our headlamps while journaling outside, pumping water, or writing this blog entry. Everyone has been drained, and sometimes cranky, all day since we haven’t had a good night’s sleep since Monday night (it’s now Wednesday). But everyone’s really excited for what’s ahead!