Crossing into the Abyss...Welcome to the Southern Hemisphere

So I began to realize that I didn't have the discipline that I would have liked for this journal. I only wrote down the first day in prose until I resorted to bullet-pointing ideas and events for the next few days. So after this entry, I will be writing each day based on the bullet points I made. I'll flesh out the ideas so that it flows, but it might started to read more like a time line than a journal. I'll do my best to add in the thoughts and feelings that accompanied the events, but I'll probably end up documenting the majority of my reactions after all the days are layed out.

6/2/11
Roughly 10:00am EAT (East Africa Time--7 hours ahead of EST)
Indin Ocean Between Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar

(This is me writing about May 29-May 30th)


Once again, I find myself writing while in transit, as I sit aboard the wonderfully rocking ferry from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar. The past few days have been phenomenal to say the least.

The flights to Africa were...well, they weren't awesome. The flight from Louisville to Detroit was fine--I fell asleep for most of it. The Detroit airport is pretty cool, believe it or not. The tunnel between terminals is lighted with different colors that are coordinated with music. It wsa green and blue for most of the time I was down there, but I did get to see an amazing rainbow of colors traverse the walls towards me when I first got down to the tunnel. Also, in the main terminal, there is a cool fountain looks like a large (like 10 feet in diameter) skippng stone. It shoots streams of water in different patterns. I probably spent ten minutes watching it...and looked like an intrigued little kid while doing so. One final observation about the airport...it sounds like birds are chirping inside. I was perplexed at first as to why an airport would pipe in bird sounds, but then I noticed that the bird chirps served as a warning that the airport tram was approaching. The tram glides along the outer wall a story about the terminal floor, so I didn't make the connection at first, but then it all became clear. It is an interesting idea, and definitely made me do a double take.

The flight from Detroit to Amsterdam was pretty decent. I sat next to a guy named Kenton from Columbus, OH. He had been living in Braunsweig, Germany for 9 years teaching English at a university there. We talked for about an hour about where he had been, where I have been, and why I was going to Africa. He was truly a Sprachgenie (a language genius)--he spoke German, French, and English fluently (I mean completely fluently) and was conversational in Spanish, Russian, and Italian. The plane sat on the runway for an hour and half extra because severe weather was heading toward the area. In a twist of irony, our flight boarded early in an attempt to get us out of there sooner. However, all the flights were trying to take off early to avoid the storms and the line to take off became overly congested, making us sit there for 90 minutes longer. Way to go Detroit. On the flight, I mainly watched movies because I couldn't sleep and didn't feel like reading. I watched Hall Pass, The Adjustmet Bureau, and Just Go With It. I started The Dilemma, but had a dilemma in the fact that I didn't have time to finish it.

The wait in the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport wasn't too bad. It was somewhat of a trip down memory lane, seeing how I had been through it 3+ times in less than 3 months last spring. It was just as I remembered it being (shocker), and it felt like a little piece of comfort. I saw Gillian (one of the girls that was also doing the Tanzania trip with me) in line for the plane, so things seemed to be falling right into place. Unfortunately, the flight from Amsterdam was long. And uncomfortable. I had a middle seat...enough said. I won't harp on it much, but I just have to say: WHEN YOUR SEAT WON'T RECLINE, THE CHAIR IS NOT BROKEN. REPEATEDLY PUCHING BACK ON IT IN QUICK THRUSTS WILL NOT HELP. THE GEAR IS NOT BROKEN. THOSE ARE MY KNEES. Alright, now that my little PSA is out there, we can move on. I was able to finish The Dilemma on this flight. I also tired watching The Social Network, but it bored me, and I fell asleep. (I have no interest in watching someone be a complete asshole). I also tried watching The Green Hornet. That was just bad, so I turned it off. I fell into that trance-like state of uncomfortable airplane sleep that brings you just to the point of consciousness to know that you are uncomfortable the entire time. Annnnyway, 9 hours later, we arrived in the JRO (Kilimanjaro) airport (...keep in mind that I was only stopping there and flying through to Dar es Salaam). I was finally in Africa! I was excited to see my surroundings and poke my head out of the plane. Of course, such a thing was impossible to do. All of the passengers staying on board to fly to Dar were required to stay on board. So I walking up to talk to Gillian for a few minutes and then headed back to my seat.

We waited for about 45 minutes as the other passengers piled onto the plane. A fascninating group of men entered the plane and quickly caught my attention. They looked like giant Mexicans. I quickly found out that they were indeed, giant Mexicans. The were wearing athletic gear and their shirts had something that looked like a rugby ball on it. My heart jumped into my throat as I excitedly asked, "Do you all play rugby?!" I got a confused look and a blunt response, "No, we play American football." My excitement quickly subsided. Lame. Turns out that "looks like a rugby ball"...yeah that's what we call a "football". Crazy, right? Anyway, I found out that they had just played an American college (Drake University, I think) in a football game called the Kilimanjaro Bowl. They just decided to have this international match up not in the U.S., Mexico, or even the Northern or Western Hemispheres...they had it in Tanzania. Random, indeed. So the rest of the plane ride was cramped as these 40 something Nick-sized people crammed into the plane. Arriving in Dar, I was so happy and relieved to get off that plane that I almost forgot I was in Africa. Almost.

When I walked up the ramp and into the terminal, I think my sensory functions were at the highest they had ever been. I say that because I was consciously trying to absorb every molecule of air into my lungs and every photon of light through my eyes. Upon landing in Europe for the first time (although I still remember it vividly), I was too scared/nervous to focus on picking up every little detail. This time, there were no nerves. Just concentration. The dim lights, the somber faces, and the interesting array of colors bombarded me as I left the ramp, walking into the airport. The smell of Africa is unforgettable. It is not an offensive odor or a perfume to bask in. It is simply a scent. It is an earthly smell, like dirt mixed with sweat. It was not assulting, just pervaise. I could describe for you every step I took from the airplane to the customs counter if you asked me to.

Anyway, at customs, they asked only a few basic questions and then had my put my fingers on a scanner. I had never done that before, but they simple start with your four right fingers and then your thumb and then move to your four left fingers and thumb. After that, I received my stamp and was allowed through. I was so glad to have already purchased our visas because that cut out a lot of our waiting time. Gillian and I met up and waited for our bags together. Gillian got hers first so I held my breath waiting for mine. It showed up, though, sure enough, and we walked out of the baggage area. There waiting for us was Dr. Rolfe, and he waved us down and greeted us. He introduced us to Kopongo, our guide for the city. They led us to an interesting looking car that was apparently an Toyota, but it was unlike any Toyota I had ever seen before. It looked more like a pod than anything else. We piled into the car and began our drive back. As we made the 20 minute drive back to the hotel, I tried to look around to see anything I could. It was 10pm however and everything was dark dark dark. The city of Dar didn't seem like a big city in the U.S. from what I could see, even though 5 million people live there. It is hard to describe, but there aren't really tall buildings or much of any apparent organization. It is just barely paved roads*, small buildings, and people. I was able to call my mom to let her know all was ok during the ride back, too, so that was good to do as well. When we got to the hotel, Kopongo told me that the "late Michael Jackson" had stayed here when he visited Tanzania. I found it funny that he always referred to him as the "late Michael Jackson". Everyone else from our group was already there and was asleep. I got my key from Dr. Rolfe, said goodnight to Kopongo, Dr. Rolfe, and Gillian, and headed up to the room. I walked in and accidentally woke up Ian, my roommate for the trip. We talked for a few minutes, both of us incredulous to the fact that we were in Africa, but we were both exhausted from our travels. I quickly set my stuff down, brushed my teeth (with the bottled water provided, mind you, since we were not allowed to drink the tap water), and crashed.

Welcome to Africa.

*Barely paved road will become a relative term later on in this adventure. I'll expand upon how lucky I was to have this "barely" paved road in later posts.

Let the Adventure Begin

5/29/11
2:20 EST
Louisville

Just like I have no idea how to mentally or emotionally prepare for this trip to Africa, I have no clue how to start my journal about it. Am I excited? Absolutely...but I don't know exactly what to be excited about really. I know the next two weeks will be phenomenal, eye-opening, disarming, and quite literally, awesome--but I don't know what I will be experiencing. So does that mean that I'm apprehensive? Eh, not really. I mean, I have felt those pangs of fear poking around every once and a while, but they seemed to be fueled more by uncertainty than an actual fear of anything. It is an interesting comparison from my last overseas trip.

In January 2010, I figured out every flight detail, three possible train routes to take once I was in Germany, and then three alternate plans for each route in case something went wrong. Needless to say, I was freaking out then. Just a little. Now in May/June 2011, uncertainty is nothing but a part of the adventures. The roll-with-the-punches demeanor that I have developed by somehow making my way around all of Europe has infiltrated every aspect of my life, and this trip is no exception. I am ready for the adventure, but in all reality, I am ill prepared. I guess this trip is much more structured than my Euroventure. My professor is meeting me in the Dar es Salaam airport when I touchdown around 10pm local time in Tanzania. From there, I will follow his instructions and meet up with the group. It will be quite the excursion from there on out.

Do I have a plan? Not really. I'm just letting the trip take its course, do its thing. I'm trying to focus on enjoying the journey, every step of the way. I enjoy flying, so instead of worrying every second until I touchdown about what I'm going to do once I land, I'm going to soak in the moment. The whole trip will be about absorbing all I can. Nothing but Tanzania will exist to me for 12 days. I am losing a whole day flying there, so my goal is to pack an extra day's worth of adventures (or more) into the time I have there. My thirst for adventure is always strong, but I feel it growing stronger with every mile that I get closer to Africa. I am about to enjoy the take-off from Louisville in this plane that was apparently intended for pygmies. I'm getting my adventure on. It seems to fit well.