A long day of traveling

When I last posted, I was at the airport getting ready to board a flight for Tanzania and the next 24 hours were LONG!  It's amazing how exhausting it can be to literally sit in one spot for several hours at a time.  I slept, listened to music, read, watched a movie, and talked with other Peace Corps volunteers so the time passed relatively quickly.  We had a layover in Amsterdam, so the 40 of us just sat and in a huge group trying to pass the time. We definitely stood out among the many tourists at the Amsterdam airport.

The flight to Tanzania started off hilarious.  The overhead compartment above the seat in front of us started leaking while it was open and it looked as if it was raining on the people in front of us.  The stewardess came over to see what the problem was thinnking that something in one of the passangers bags was leaking.  However, when she checked the overhead compartmenet was completely dry!  It made no sense.  She put the overhead compartment down again and it looked like a mini rainstorm.  Once she put the compartment up, it just drizzled.  The people in front of us had a napkin and had to wipe it every 5 seconds to keep the water from falling on them.  I found this hilarious! Perhaps it was the sleep deprivation, but I could not stop laughing.  I even took a picture which I hope to post at some point.  The plane was booked so the couple in front of us had no place to move to (and since nobody wanted to sit for 10 hours with water droplets on their head, they could not simply switch seats).  Luckily, the plane stopped raining about an hour into the flight. We still don't know the cause or why it stopped, but it sure was a good laugh.

We arrived in Tanzania around 10pm and the Peace Corps staff was at the airport waiting for us. It was a BEAUTIFUL night and we got to enjoy an amazing lunar eclipse.  Unfortunately none of my pictures turned out well, but the moon was covered in red! After got our luggage the staff took us to the site where we would be staying.  We had snacks and received malaria medication before they finally let us go to sleep.  The time difference from home is 7 hours and I am still struggling with Jet lag.   I couldn't fall asleep until 3 am and had to be at breakfast at 7:30.  To say I am exhausted would be an understatement....