Home Sweet Home

It’s been a while since we’ve posted anything and a lot has happened in the last few weeks. I will probably have to make several different posts to get things caught up.

One of our most exciting moments was when we finally moved in to our house!! We moved in on Thursday after 5 days in our temporary housing. The Embassy sent a huge canvas-topped military truck to move all of our things. The Embassy worker who came to get us smiled and said “I was told you have many suitcases; I should bring big truck”. Well, he was right about that. After a short drive up the peninsula, we were home.

We had seen pictures of the house, courtesy of our sponsor, Andrew. We were very pleased with what we saw in person. Our house is one of three in a compound. There is a 9 foot concrete fence around the entire property. We have 2 guards at the entrance at all times. Each of the 3 homes also has a 4 foot concrete fence around its property. We were very pleased to see that we have our own yard for the pups to run around in.

Our house is a 2-story house. When you walk in the front door, you step into the living room, which opens into the dining room. The stairs are to the right. Next to the stairs is a spare room (we are still debating whether that is going to be the “man room TV center” or the pretty guest bedroom). There is also a full bath underneath the stairs (yes, it’s quirky). To the right of the dining room is the kitchen. The kitchen is a very nice size with a large pantry (apparently a rarity here). We also have a large laundry room in the back of the house with plenty of storage shelves…and….most excitingly…a dishwasher!!! We were told there are no dishwashers here, so we didn’t even bring dish soap with us. I am most ecstatic to have a dishwasher as I do NOT like hand washing.

Upstairs we have 3 bedrooms (yeah, Cash finally has his own room!) and 2 full baths. The upstairs is also considered our safe area. Each Embassy home has an area that is enclosed with iron bars (windows and door). At the top of our stairs is a locking iron door. In the event of an emergency, we are to retreat to our safe area, lock ourselves in, and call the Embassy on our radio. Currently our biggest use of the iron door is to keep the dogs downstairs while we are sleeping at night.

The Embassy has fully furnished the house for us. We brought a few things (our bed, cribs, rocking chair) but otherwise we will us the lovely Embassy furniture. We are borrowing Embassy cribs for the kids until ours arrive. The Embassy also provides us with a “welcome kit” to use while awaiting our shipments. The welcome kit include: plates, bowls, silverware, cups, dishtowels, bath towels, a few pots and pans and a vacuum.

The house has also come with Peter. Peter is our gardener who was employed by the Embassy while our house was empty. Apparently his contract is for a month, so even though we are in the house now, Peter is here until mid-June. Peter is not that fastest worker in the world, but he works hard. He is here every day at 8:00am sweeping our porch and driveway. He has also trimmed all of bushes, cut the grass with a machete, weeded the flower beds and (constantly) waters the yard (even if it has just rained). We are working with him on the concept that rainy season means no need to water.

We received news that the car we ordered from Japan has been shipped. It’s currently aboard the Morning Menad. It is scheduled to arrive in Dar mid-June. After clearing customs and paperwork, we should have the car by early July. We are very eager to get our car. Although the Embassy provides a car to get Mike to and from work, we are relying on taxis for all other transportation. We have been lucky to have been introduced to Frank. Frank is a taxi driver who drives for a coworker of Mike’s. Frank has been very good to drive us around and give us really good rates (think $10US for about 3 hours of driving to 4 different destinations as I ran errands one day).

We have also learned the art of walking. Thankfully we are within walking distance of a grocery store and bakery (a French one at that). Walking to get groceries definitely adds a new twist to things. On one of my first outings I bought the 20lb bag of dog food, not really considering that I’d have to carry it home. Thankfully I had the stroller and was able to cram the bag in the bottom. However, it took up the whole space so I had to carry the rest of the shopping bags home.

Grocery shopping has been an interesting experience in and of itself. There is a rather large grocery store that we frequent called Shopper’s Plaza (or as Sadie likes to call it, Walmart). You can get most everything there, but it is at a price (think $7US for a box of Corn Flakes). They also do not have good quality meat, produce or bread there. For those things we have found specialty shops are the way to go. So we go to the butcher shop for our meat, Garden Market (a tiny little shop) for our fruits and veggies and Epi D’or, the French bakery, for our breads.

We had a new experience recently when we visited the fish market for the first time. There is a very large fish market in Dar with better prices, but a much longer drive. We chose to go to the one on the peninsula to check it out. It is an open air concrete building. As we stepped out of the car we were met by a dozen men each selling their catch of the day: red snapper, salmon, octopus, shrimp, crab, squid, flounder….just to name a few. Thankfully our driver went in with us to help negotiate. We walked away with 8 large salmon fillets, 6 red snapper fillets, 1 lb of jumbo shrimp, and 1 lb of calamari. I was very glad to have the men clean all of it for us.

On a sad note (for me at least), Audra is now on her way back home. We feel so very blessed to have had her with us for these first few weeks. She was an amazing help with the children, so patient as Sadie worked through her jet lag and general confusion related to this big change. We laughed that Audra was our guinea pig as we learned our way around our new town and new adventures. So for each of you who come to visit us later, you can thank Audra that your trip (hopefully) goes very smoothly. A million thank you’s Audra!!

Squeezing blood out of a Monroe boy

**Disclaimer..this blog is my opinion and in no way reflects the opions of the CDC or the US government.

On Friday May 13, I was asked by Dr. Elizabeth Marum (acting CDC Country director) if I would represent the CDC at the grand opening of a new blood collection clinic at a woman and children’s care and treatment center in Dar es Salaam. The Tanzanian National Blood Safety Program (NBSP) is supported by the CDC both through a technical standpoint and financially. As taxpayers, part of your tax money has gone to building this blood collection site in Tanzania which will provide much needed blood to women and children needing transfusions.

I was accompanied to the event by Regina who is a locally employed staff (LES) and Kate who works as the CDC public affairs person. I was so glad that Regina was there as the entire ceremony was in Swahili and the customs were a mystery to me. We began by sitting on a stage with all of the dignitaries (the director of the clinic, the director of the NBSP, city councilman, someone from the mayor’s office, etc..).

After a while, everyone stood up and started walking away. Regina said that I should follow as we would begin the festivities by marching as a group down the street back into the stage area. So I did and we did. We were led by a drum, a trombone, and a trumpet. We marched to the stage area and all of the school children marched in front of us waiving at us.

The official program began with introductions and then a hip hop dance group performed for the group. Kate had been out of town so did not get a chance to approve the rather questionable music and such. She had warned me that Tanzanians love dancing. They love to get the mzungu (white person) to get up and dance as well. No matter how badly you dance, you need to give it a shot so they can laugh and feel like you are part of it all. Luckily, they skipped me but Kate got a nice lap dance by the hip hop group. Can’t imagine that happening in the US.

After some traditional dancing, there were more speeches and then the opening of the clinic by the traditional cutting of the ribbon.

I was asked if I would like to give blood. When you donate blood in Tanzania, you are automatically checked for HIV, Hepatitis, etc.. like you are in the US to make sure your blood is safe. Many Tanzanians are afraid to donate blood because they are afraid to learn their HIV status. There is also a stigma associated with donating blood as many are afraid that they’ll catch HIV or other diseases from the needles used to donate. Giving blood in Tanzania is just as safe as it is in the US. Due to the scarcity of donors, Tanzania will bring school kids to these clinics to donate as they are not afraid of their HIV status. The limitation is that if you are under 17, you must have parental consent. I went ahead and donated a pint as it was good for locals to see that an educated mzungu would donate thus thinking it safe.

Overall it was a rewarding experience. Hope all are well.

Swahili lesson for today:
Damu = blood

Pictures

I had intended to include pictures with my posts but time got away from me and I didn't do it. Instead of plugging them into old posts, I'll just do a post of pictures. So here is a little photo journal of our last couple of weeks.

The Pack-out:

Heading to the airport:

Check out all that luggage!

Sadie sleeping on the plane to Amsterdam:

Cash's bassinet (yes, he's in there):

The rains in Africa (the view from our front windows):

Sadie's ready for the hotel pool:

Our visitor:

We found this guy in the grass in front of our apartment. At first I though it was an empty shell until I turned it over.

"Ok, done holding him!"

Protea

The US Embassy has assigned us a house to live in while we are here. However, the house was not ready for us when we arrived so we have been placed in temporary quarters. The Embassy is particular about where its families can live. There are a handful of hotels and apartments that they choose from for temporary quarters. Since we have the dogs with us, we are limited to one…Protea Oysterbay Hotel and Apartments. They have a website if you would like to Google it and see pictures. We did that prior to our arrival and we were quite impressed with what we saw. What we found when we got here was a different story. Think those pictures plus about 30 years wear-and-tear. Please do not misunderstand me. I am very grateful for a bed, air-conditioning and hot water. We just were not expecting the “Motel 6” atmosphere to accompany those things.

When we first arrived from the airport it was around 11:00pm and we were all exhausted. We were supposed to be placed in a 3-bedroom apartment (the US government allows for each of our children to have their own room). The 3-bedroom apartment here was not available, so instead the hotel offered us a 2-bedroom apartment and a separate 1-bedroom apartment. Keep in mind that the extra apartment was intended for Sadie or Cash (not Audra as the government makes no provisions for her traveling with us). We didn’t say anything about the separate rooms at first, deciding to wait until we saw the set up. Mike went into the lobby to check-in and was told that the apartments that had been set aside for us were not ready so they were going to place us in 2 temporary apartments for one night (yes, temporary quarters for our temporary quarters). They did not have 2 rooms next to each other so they offered us an upstairs room in one building and a downstairs room in another building about 50 yards away. Needless to say, we dropped the upstairs room and told them we would take the one downstairs. We quickly piled our multitude of suitcases in our tiny apartment, set up the Pack-n-Play and headed to bed. Mike, Cash and I took one room; Audra and Sadie took the other room.

The next morning was Sunday. Mike inquired about our move to our new temporary room and was told that they were going to move us to the apartment directly above where we were. When we found out that it looks exactly the same, we said “no thank you” and decided to just stay where we were.

The only food that we had was our snacks from the plane and 2 bottles of water that the hotel had offered with the room. We had a light breakfast of Nutrigrain bars and water.

The Embassy assigns each new family a social sponsor (a family who is already established in the Embassy community). Our sponsors are Andrew and Jenny (and their son, Benjamin, who is 2 weeks younger than Sadie). We have been communicating with them via email for several months now. They have been amazingly helpful answering questions for us, taking pictures of our house and getting things rolling when no one else seemed to be able to. Late Sunday morning they came to our hotel and we were finally able to meet them. We loaded up in their cars and drove out to Seacliff (an area of the peninsula with shops and restaurants). We had a nice brunch while overlooking the Indian Ocean. Afterwards, they took us to a small grocery store so I could pick up a few things we would need to get through the week.

On the way back to the hotel they drove us to see our house. Although we couldn’t go inside yet, it was exciting to get to walk around the outside and see it in person. I am sooo ready to move in.

Monday was Mike’s first day at work. He spent most of his time meeting people, filling out paperwork and getting us registered. We did find out some very exciting news that our house might be ready for us this week!! We should find out a definite date by tomorrow but are told it will most likely be the weekend. It cannot happen soon enough as far as I’m concerned.

I'll leave you with a few photos of our cozy little apartment :)

Getting There

Here is the long story of how we got to Tanzania.

Friday, May 6^th, was our last day at the Country Hearth Inn in downtown Monroe. We spent the morning throwing together last minute items that remained in the room. Since we had so much stuff to transport, we were given use of the Harmony Baptist Church van. We had loaded most of the luggage in the van the night before (thank you so much Richard and Bobby for helping drag our suitcases downstairs!!) so we only had a couple of suitcases remaining.

Pastor Brant (AKA our driver) and Audra (who is accompanying us for the 1^st month of our adventure) both arrived around 11:00am. Once it was all said and done the van held 4 adults, 2 children (in car seats), 2 dogs (in their carriers), 4 trunks, 1 Pack-n-Play, 8 suitcases, 3 diaper bags, 1 stroller and 7 carry-ons. By noon we were on our way to the airport.

When we arrived we started piling our stuff on the sidewalk. A Skycap came over and asked if we needed help. We told him “Yes, and bring a friend”. We were so glad to have the Skycap’s help. With 2 carts they got all of our stuff to the right check-in desk and were very helpful, especially with the dogs. Check in was an amazingly smooth process. One by one our bags were weighed and tagged and sent on their way. Thankfully they were all within the 50 lb weight limit. Well, one bag was 51 lbs, but our desk agent let it slide.

For the dogs, we had to fill out paperwork that was then attached to their carriers. After we were checked in, we took them to a separate area where they were taken out of their kennels and the kennels were tested for whatever it is that TSA tests for. Our Skycap promised he would take good care of them and off they went. We wouldn’t see them again until we arrived in Dar.

One of our missions for our flight was to get seats behind the bulkhead. We had been told that there is a bassinet that attaches to the bulkhead wall. After hearing that we knew we wanted it for Cash. And we wanted the extra leg room and floor space for Sadie. We asked at check in if we could change our seats (we weren’t assigned there originally). We were told that only gate agents could make that change. So we decided to head straight to our gate.

Once again, we were blessed with a smooth transition through security. Having Audra along was a definite help. Just loading all of our bags, taking off our shoes (Sadie’s too), collapsing the stroller….it’s quite a process. And of course I always get pulled aside because of liquids in the diaper bag. This time it was Sadie’s milk and our bottle of children’s Benadryl (hee-hee).

When we got to the E-gates (for international travel at the Atlanta airport) we stopped at Delta’s customer service desk to ask again about changing our seats. We were again told that only gate agents can make that change. The customer service lady explained that those seats are set aside for person’s requesting a bassinet, and they are assigned on a first-come-first-serve basis. When we heard that we were even more determined that we were going to get that seat. So we went straight to the gate where we camped out (the gate agents wouldn’t be there for another hour). Mike said he felt like we were vying for concert tickets.

While we waited we ate our McDonald’s lunch; our last for quite some time. Quarter Pounder with Cheese, I will miss you.

At last, the gate opened. Mike was the first one in line….and we got our seats!!! We were so excited. Mike, Sadie, Cash and I were assigned the 4 center seats, while Audra was on the aisle seat next to us. Since Cash was not going to sit in his own seat with his seatbelt securely fastened, Audra moved over and sat with us. Boarding the plane went well, no trouble finding space in overhead compartments, smooth take off.

When we originally booked our flights, Delta told us that the flight attendant would give us a form before take off that confirmed that the dogs were loaded on our plane. She was very persistent in telling us not to let the plane take off before we had that form in our hands. Did we remember that…no. By the time we asked, all our flight attendant could tell us was that there were live animals on board. We were glad to hear her say it was pleural and hoped it was our boys.

Sadie did not get her usual afternoon nap, so about 5 minutes into the flight, she was asleep in Mike’s arms. We laid her down, hoping she would sleep. And she did…for about 45 minutes. After our airplane-food dinner, we decided it was time to really work on getting the kids to sleep. We requested our bassinet, loaded Sadie up with Benadryl, changed diapers, put the kids PJ’s on and started rocking. We hit a rough patch with Sadie as she didn’t really want to go to sleep. But pretty soon the Benadryl kicked in and she was out. We laid her down across the 2 center seats. Cash, also asleep, went into his bassinet. We decided to try to get some sleep ourselves. By this time it was around midnight Atlanta-time and we were all pretty tired. Unfortunately, sleep did not come for any of us adults. I think I got about 30 minutes before I just gave up on trying to find a comfortable spot in my seat.

Before too long we had breakfast on the plane and then it was time to pack up. We arrived in Amsterdam right on time. We wanted to get the bassinet row again but were told the same story (only gate agents, they aren’t there yet, etc). We also wanted to check on the dogs but were told there was no way that we could see them between flights. So we decided to head to the Kid’s Forest. Let me just tell you that Schipol Airport in Amsterdam is awesome!! They have this great area dedicated to babies and kids. The Kid’s Forest is an indoor playground. It’s set aside in a quiet room where kids can play and get out of the hustle of the main airport area. Sadie loved it in there. Next door is the Baby Care center. It is a beautiful, quiet, dark room with 8 curtained areas that have cushioned seats for parents and a crib for babies. They also have a nice changing area with sinks and microwaves. All the while, soothing music is playing softly overhead. I didn’t want to leave!

Our layover was only 2 ½ hours, so we had to head to the gate after about 45 minutes of playing. Interesting note, Amsterdam’s airport has the security screening at each gate. After you go through security, you then go to the gate agent to check in. Once again, no problems getting through security. At the check in desk, we quickly begged for our bassinet row. Unfortunately, we were told that it was not available. But the very nice agent said she would block 2 extra surrounding seats for us so we could spread out. 5 of us with 7 seats, not bad.

We also asked the gate agent about the pups. We were told that they did not get to go to the Pet Hotel at the airport because there was not enough time between our flights. But she spoke with someone who was “taking care of them” and she would confirm for me when they were on the plane. It was nice to know that they had at least made it that far with us.

When we boarded the plane we were surprised to see so many empty seats. We soon found out that the flight was not even ½ filled. Who needs a bassinet row….we wound up taking up the whole back of the plane. At one time we were spread out across 4 different rows. We took the opportunity to each get a nap, taking turns watching the kids. About ½ way into the flight Sadie passed out and we made her a little bed on her own row.

We landed in Kilimanjaro at night. Unfortunately it was too dark to see the mountain. A few people got off the plane. Those of us traveling on to Dar were not allowed to leave. We stayed in our seats while they cleaned the plane and got it ready for the next leg. At this point the plane filled up with people traveling back to Amsterdam. We were all pretty tired after our long day of flying and ready to get off the plane. Thankfully the next leg of our journey into Dar was a short 40 minute flight.

We arrived in Dar about 30 minutes early. Eager to get off, we grabbed our stuff and headed for the door. In true African fashion, there was a problem with the electricity and they could not get the ramp to attach to the plane. So we all turned around and headed to the back of the plane where we disembarked via a staircase.

We were greeted in the airport by an expeditor whom the Embassy had sent to meet us. This was quite an interesting experience for us. We have all been issued diplomatic passports while we are living in Tanzania. We gave our expeditor our passports (and grouped Audra’s in with ours). He led us past the immigration desk, said he would take care of things at that point and instructed us to start pulling our luggage. It was a bit strange getting to walk right past all the other people in line. We did not wait long at baggage claim before our stuff started coming off. Our expeditor arrived with 5 rolling carts and loaded our bags. We were thrilled when they brought the pups to us. We were so grateful as well that all of our luggage arrived safely. We had zip tied all of our luggage before leaving Atlanta. All zip ties were still in place except for one. However, nothing appears to be missing from that bag.

We exited the airport after only being there about 30 minutes. We were met by a US Embassy 30+ passenger bus that took us to our new temporary home. 28 hours after leaving the Country Hearth Inn in Monroe we were at the Protea Oysterbay Hotel and Apartments in Dar. We are glad to be here and enjoying having beds to sleep in.

Please continue to remember us in your prayers as we settle in to our new lives. I’ll be posting more later on our accommodations and first few days here.

Final Countdown

And so it begins, our last week in the US (for a while at least). We started off the week with a very emotional but sweet time with our church family on Sunday. A beautiful flower arrangement was in the sanctuary in our honor. At the end of the service we were presented with 4 prayer blankets, beautiful fleece blankets, one for each of us, that the church had all prayed over. We are so blessed to be a part of Harmony Baptist Church.

On Monday morning, the movers arrived. We have a crew of 4 men packing up our house. They are an efficient crew! Although it's kind of sad to see our stuff being boxed up, it is definitely impressive to see them work. They are in the process of packing our 4 different shipments: Air, Sea, Storage and Consumables. Mike and I have spent the last month labeling all items in the house, indicating which shipment everything should go in. Each of the 4 shipments has it's own weight allotment. As the boxes are packed, they are inventoried, barcoded, weighed and then loaded into the truck. We tried to be very organized with everything, but we have quickly learned that we have a lot of stuff. In the end, it should be interesting to see what things wind up in what place. As I write this, the downstairs is almost completely finished. They should get the upstairs done this afternoon, maybe the basement too. They plan to spend tomorrow morning finishing up the shed and loading the truck. And then it's all off to it's respective destination.

On Monday we checked into our new "home"....the Country Hearth Inn in downtown Monroe. It's not the most modern place we've stayed, but it will do for the next week.

My parents are in town with us now. I am so glad to have them here. It's been a blessing to have extra hands, especially with the kids. Sadie is a little freaked out by it all. We've been trying to just keep her away from the house. I don't think she knows how to process the whole thing. She just sees strange men in her house, taking all of her toys away. I hope she adjusts to this change. It's a lot for all of us....but especially her.

We are still looking for a renter for our house (know anyone???). We were hoping to get someone in before we leave, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen at this point. We have a friend who is going to act as our property manager while we are gone. Our neighbors have also all offered to look after the house. We think they are secretly going to turn it into a party central :)

On Thursday we will be selling our last car. My (ex-)supervisor from the hospital is buying both of our cars for her children. They picked up Mike's car last week and will get mine on Thursday. It's a weird feeling to be without a vehicle; and also takes much more planning when deciding who will be taking the car and when and for how long.

We have also purchased a car to use while we are in Tanzania. We bought the car online at JapaneseVehicles.com. The website was recommended to us by several Embassy families in TZ. It was a very different process than what we are used to. The company is essentially an auction house. We have been checking the site frequently for something that met our requirements and was also within our budget. Last week something finally popped up, a Toyota Prado (you may know it as a Land Cruiser). It's a 2002, white, seats 8, 4WD, and (most importantly) automatic transmission. My only hangup with the car...it has green flames on the sides. We are hoping it's just decals and can be easily removed. I guess we'll see once it has crossed the big blue ocean.

The process to purchase the car was actually quite easy. Once we contacted the company that we were interested, they put the car on hold for us for 48 hrs while we made our final decision. Once we emailed them that we did want the car, we filled out a purchase order and then wired the money to them. After they confirmed receipt of the money, they then sent the car to their shipper. And that's where we are now...just waiting to hear from the shipping company that the car is on it's way. It can take several weeks to arrive. After the car gets to TZ, it will be delivered to the US Embassy. It then waits there until all the paperwork, registration, etc. is completed. We've been told that we can go "visit" the car during that time, but can't drive it away until it's all "legal". In the meantime, the Embassy will provide us with a car and driver. I might like that more than having my own car.

One of our most recent challenges has been figuring out how we are getting to the airport. We will have 3 adults, 2 kids (and their car seats), 2 dogs (and their carriers) and 12 suitcases. Finding a vehicle that can transport all of us was not as easy as one might think. Once again, Harmony has stepped in to help us. Pastor Brant himself will be driving us to the airport in nothing other than the church van. What a send off!!

And then there is Friday....the day we leave. It is approaching so quickly. It will be a bittersweet time. Please continue to pray for us as we undertake this amazing journey. Thank you for following us. It's a comfort knowing that we have the love and support of so many people!

3 weeks

It’s official…we have our move date. After waiting for months to get things pinned down, it seems that a lot has happened in this past week. With a potential government shutdown looming, several things got pushed through quickly for us. While on family vacation this past week, we started getting phone calls and emails insisting that we finalize things. And so we did.

A major advance for us is that we now have our plane tickets. We head out in 3 weeks. We will fly into Amsterdam for a 2 hour layover before making our way into Dar. Each leg is about 9.5 hours. It’s a relief to finally have a date but also a little overwhelming.

We have also started the packing process. We had our premove survey this past week. Our moving company sent a representative to take inventory of our house. It’s amazing how much stuff you really have when you start making lists of each little thing. We are now putting stickers on everything indicating whether we want it to be shipped by sea or air, or if it is going into long-term storage. The moving company should contact us in the next few days to schedule when they are coming to pack everything for us. In the meantime, we are organizing each room to (hopefully) help the packing process go smoother.

We are very excited that we will be joined on this journey by Audra. Audra is completing her freshman year at Georgia Tech. She will travel with us and stay for a month, helping out with the kids while she is there. We hope to show her some fun and exciting stuff while she is with us. I am especially glad to have an extra set of hands during the flights and initial days after our arrival.

We are still in process of purchasing a car. We are looking at buying one in Japan and having it shipped to us. It’s a little strange to shop for a car online, knowing that we won’t see it until it arrives in Dar.

Our pups are almost ready to go as well. They spent a day at the vet getting all of their shots and also getting microchips (a requirement for entry into Tanzania). We now are shopping for appropriate travel crates for them. Their last step will be having our vet complete an International Health Certificate for them but that can’t be done until 72 hours before we leave.

Deep breath….and the countdown begins.