Karibu Tanzania!!!

We arrived safely in the Karagwe District of Tanzania on Monday evening.   We had quite the journey from Kigali Rwanda.  After catching a short taxi ride from the hostel to the taxi park we boarded a 30 passenger "coaster," which took us back past the hostel and around Kigali to pick up more passengers.  Essentially we paid for a taxi ride for the hell of it, but in the words of Caitlin, "At least we got the right bus!"

4 hours and a half a dozen stops later we arrived at the border of Tanzania and Rwanda in the small border town called Rsumo.  We unloaded our luggage and contacted our friend Charles who was scheduled to pick us up upon our arrival.  Shortly after contacting Charles he arrived on the Rwanda side of the border and welcomed us.  We were very happy to finally meet him and eager to cross the border. 

At the border we got our passports stamped, took some photos of some monkeys/baboons and crossed the one lane bridge over a water fall in Charle's 4 door pick-up truck.  Once we got into Tanzania we had to get our passports stamped and purchase our visas; no problems at all. 

We then began the second half of our journey.  Initially Caitlin said it might take 1-2 hours to get to Karagwe...  4 hours, 2 stops, and 10,000 pot holes on a dusty un-paved road later we arrived in the Karagwe District!!!!  Along the way Charles told me to keep my eyes peeled for Lions, Leopards, Elephants, and Giraffes.  Unfortunately the only wildlife we managed to spot was Caitlin nodding off in the back seat and 2 monkeys on the side of the road.  Keep in mind we had been awake since 3:30 am so she has a good excuse.  I dosed off for about 10 minutes before awakening to pot hole number 8,583. 

Once in the Karagwe District Charles treated us to dinner at a local restaurant.  I ate everything in front of me except the chicken bones while Caitlin picked and prodded before throwing in the towel.  We then proceeded to our living quarters and had no trouble falling asleep. 

The next morning we awoke to the Rooster crowing at 5:15 am...  Welcome to Tanzania!!!  After we got out of bed at 9:15 we went to the same restaurant that we had dinner at. Caitlin asked for Chakula which means "very filling food," not lite breakfast food..... (Paul farts a few times and rushes to the bathroom)... Sorry to interrupt the story, but Paul's digestive system has signaled an alert, and he must tend to it now.... haha!

I'm back and a legit close call just happened.  I'm sure some of you are disgusted and grossed out but this is life in Africa and we both feel that we need to be honest in this relationship with our readers.  Back to the story.  So instead of breakfast food we got served "very filling food," which happens to be the same meal prepared the night before.  Thank you Caitlin!!! Actually, I would have a tough time getting around without her knowledge and expertise of the language and I'm very grateful she knows how to speak Swahili. 

The remainder of the day was spent gathering supplies and getting to know our surroundings.  We are regularly referred to as Mzungu which translates to "traveler/white person/guest/newcomer." It can be endearing but also ennoying at times.  However, when little children point and call you Mzungu you can't help but smile.

I felt the need for a new look and decided to get a haircut at the local barber.  Initially the barber was hesitant because he said he did not know how to cut "Mzungu hair."  I then gestured to him that I wanted my head shaved and I insisted that everything would be ok and he had his first Mzungu customer!!!  Lets just say I've had worse haircuts, but really he did a nice job and I'm very pleased with my new look,  I even got a picture with him!!! 

Today we spent a large portion of our day gathering more supplies and getting to know our surroundings along with the local taxi drivers.  Most of the drivers know some English but Caitlin's Swahili is essential in getting around town.  We have a few drivers that we use regularly which is very helpful.  Despite only being in the Karagwe District for 48 hours we both feel that we've been here much longer.  We feel that we are getting well acquainted and accomplishing a lot in a short period of time.

Today I went on my first run in 6 days, i know, shocking.  I decided that taking time off while traveling around was a good idea and splitting up while we were in transit would not be in our best interest.  So now that we are settled here in Karagwe I decided to venture out into the local town  on my own and see how my running would be for the next 13 weeks.  I got close to 7 miles and saw so many people and animals it was almost overwhelming.  Chickens, dogs, goats, cows, you name it I saw it. The unpaved road is a great surface to run on but the down side are the cars and motorcycles that zoom by kicking up a ton of dust and swerving all over the road to avoid pot holes, let alone pedestrians....  Overall its not that bad but will take some time getting used to.  Caitlin enjoys the extra hour or two of sleep in the early morning while I enjoy perfect temperatures for distance running. 

We are thinking of all of you back home and hope you are enjoying the blog. 

-Paul

Hostel Rwanda

 We went back to the Philly airport the next day, and were checked in with no hassle from US Airways. We had our last American meal at the airport which consisted of crab fries, mozzarella sticks, buffalo wings, and shrimp from Chickies and Pete's.

Our flights were alright. Our flight to Brussels was delayed and we were re-routed at the last minute to go to Amsterdam, as we would have missed our connecting flight in Brussels. We were disappointed to find that our first 7 hour flight was not complete with individual screens, but it got us from point A to point B. We flew KLM from Amsterdam to Kigali, and that plane was great (despite sleeping through the main meal.... you know how Paul can get when he's hungry).

We safely arrived in Kigali, Rwanda last night around 8pm. Unfortunately, we cannot say the same for our luggage. We got one out of four of our checked bags last night, and hope to collect the rest tonight.

 We are staying at St. Famille church hostel. It's only $13.50 a night =). We had a rough night last night as our bodies are trying to adjust from jet lag and the new time zone. We slept from 9pm-1am and then from 5am-8am. Pretty frustrating- we hope to sleep better tonight.

This morning we went to the bank and exchanged American money for Francs and then had breakfast. Kigali is a big city- there is a mall within a 5 minute walk with Americanized restaurants. I had the fruit plate (bananas, passion fruit, papaya, watermelon, pineapple, green apple) and a vegetable samosa and Paul had a full breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, some vegetables, and toast. We also had fresh-squeezed passion fruit juice.

After taking a 3-4 hour nap back at our hostel, we ventured out again. Some kids begged Paul for food and water, and oddly called us Rastafarian. For some reason they understand we were not Rastas once Paul took off his Phillies hat (we don't understand either!). We gave two of the kids our sole Nature Valley dark chocolate granola bar.

So, we're doing alright. We will soon eat dinner somewhere, and will return to the airport with hopes to collect the rest of our luggage. Tomorrow we plan to visit the Genocide memorial.

Until next time... Salut, Good-bye, Kwa Heri!

Delay of game...

Hello friends and family!  Our first blog post takes place in the confines of the Thistle household in Blue Bell, Pa.  You may be wondering why we are blogging and not in transit today.  Well, we had our first little speed bump at the U.S. Airways check-in counter while attempting to check our bags.  To make a long story short we were not allowed to check our bags and proceed to security without "a visa, or a return flight," both of which we do not have or need. This apparently is a terrible misinterpretation of U.S. Airways policy by the U.S. Airways employees at the check-in counter in Philadelphia.  Our dedicated boss at Amizade spent 9 hours communicating with various U.S. Airways representatives to fix the situation.  In just a few hours we should be attempting to board our new flight for today.  Thank you for following our blog and we look forward to posting exciting news for you in the near future.
-Paul