Toto, I think we're not in Kansas anymore...

Good evening/Good morning to all of you!

I have been in Dar about 6 hours now and am beginning to feel the exhaustion. I'm sitting in my cozy hotel bed at a resort on the coast. Not bad aye? We're here for 3 days while we "adapt" to Tanzanian lifestyles and receive the start of our orientation.

I had a fairly painless journey. I slept most of the 15 hours trip to Dubai and when I arrived at my overnight hotel in the city, I slept some more. It was fabulous. For future reference, if ya'll decide to travel, Emirates is awesome! Definitely one of the best airlines in my book. Everyone is super nice and they gave me a free hotel room and free meals for my stay in Dubai.

I didn't see any of the city, but I figured I would be having enough adventures in Tanzania to last me a while. I arrived about 4pm this afternoon, but didn't get to the hotel until 5:30, along with 3 other of my cohorts in the program. My luggage arrived safe and sounds too! Praise God. As expected, Tanzania is vastly different from my life in California. The sites, the sounds, the smells, the air is all so wonderfully new. There are people everywhere, but everyone seems to be so nice and polite. After I showered, skyped with the rents, and got myself together, a group of us headed over tot he beach side of the resort to touch the Indian Ocean which is incredibly warm! We had dinner at the hotel's restaurant which took FOOOORRRRREVVVVERRRRR. My first meal here was Tandoori Chicken and fries...yup, real classy. As far as I understand, tomorrow we're eating Italian food. o_0 An odd introduction to Tanzanian culture. I'm going to have to get used to the different forms of timing here. Some places use 12hr, some 24hr...but then there's Swahili time, which is especially complicated. Say it's nine o'clock in 12 hr time, in swahili time this would be 3 o'clock. It's the number that's directly opposite on the clock face. Yes, I know it's confusing.

There are so many new things to learn! I hope I can pick up on them quickly. I'm trying to discover a few Swahili words but it's going to take me a while. I'm so excited about everything around me but I'm also anxious to understand and to learn.

I apologize for the rambling. I decided to blurt out as much as possible before I pass out sleeping. I will continue to post as often as i can, but until then I bid you all adieu!

<3