Africa, here I come! by Resident Blogger Jessica Shipman

Hi Girl Fearless,

Boy I've taken this Humanitarian Fearless thing to the next level!

I just set off to Tanzania, Africa to teach a group of young kids English. After a minor, unexpected stop over in Nairobi my group arrived safely at about 1am in Mt Kilimanjaro. Although I didn't get much sleep in last night - I'm so far running okay on adrenaline and have some how managed to be relatively adapted to the new schedule.

I've already met, (and fallen in love with) several children (orphans) who latch on to you as if they have not a care in the world. They love taking pictures and then seeing what they look like on the digital cameras. They apparently never got the message to not talk to strangers...

After taking a quick, freezing bucket shower, we rode a dalla,dalla, (a little van you hail like a cab) into the city of Arusha - which is quite the culture shock. It felt like a walk through New York City on a Saturday afternoon trying to not fall over the rocks while still taking a second to look at the people, the trades and the kids. A bit crazy... but we managed to find a quiet little area and had lunch with a few other volunteers and one of the organization leaders (from Tennessee).

The organization is great as are the ~10 other girls we're staying with in the house... there's a driver, a cook and several cleaning ladies. The house we ended up staying in last night is new - and might I say, far better than any NYC apt. They are all extremely sweet and are patient with our lax attempts at Swahili.

The people - Tanzanians are beautiful people who are curious and excited to practice their English and mingle with us foreigners.

The country - from what we've seen thus far, is just like you'd imagine. Chickens and goats roaming around, children and their mothers on the street... the landscape vibrant and breathtaking.

After leaving town, we might stop by the Darfur trials where they have the public court trials for each individual (leaders primarily) of the genocide in Darfur.

Tonight is "social night" - where we will have a big BBQ with all the volunteers (I think about 30 total) and drink, dance, etc. Tomorrow, all day, we will have orientation at the house and get prepared to start the teaching on Monday morning!

Until next time... Humanitarian Fearless