Karibu Arusha!

Welcome to Arusha! I arrived into Arusha late last night after a mere 24 hours of travelling. Am I a zombie? Yes. I wanted to take a nap today at 7:15am (I woke at 7:10am), during lunch, during snack, and yes, during dinner. Needless to say, it is almost 10pm and I am getting ready to hit the sack.

So, I know so many of you are bursting at your seams to know what it is like here in Arusha. I live in a lovely 4 bedroom home, complete with dining room, living room, full kitchen, courtyard, porch, guard, 2 full baths, garage and yes, the unheard of, INTERNET! Let me tell you it was quite a shock to see my "rustic" accommodations. I know many of you are thinking "wait, I supported you to go on a missions trip not to live in the lap of luxury". So, let me tell you about the village where I will spend the other 50% of my time. There is no running water, no electricity, no showers, no stores, no nothing. I'm quite positive if I had to live there full time I would come back mighty thin because there doesn't seem to be much food.

I met the staff that I will be working with today. They seem wonderful. I say "seem" because they all spoke Swahili and I had no idea what they were saying. They could have been saying "Welcome Erin, we are so happy to have you" or "Welcome Erin, you look like a mighty plump pig in that new outfit". Needless to say, I was greeted with many smiles. I think it went well.