The Beginning

After a long flight from O'Hare to Amsterdam and then Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro, the last of the students for the Engineering World Health (EWH) Summer Institute arrived around 9 PM in the airport. About ten of us met our coordinator, David, loaded our suitcases onto a bus and traveled down the highway (which looked more like a country road compared to American freeways) to the Danish TCDC Language School. There, my host "parents" Chrystina and Isuya were waiting to pick me up. They loaded my things into their car and drove us to their home, which is right across the path from the language school. Even though it was late, they had food waiting for me when we arrived. My roommate, Wengui, was already fast asleep. I was exhausted from the trip, so I quickly got ready and went to bed.

Early the next morning I was awoken by a variety of animals, including birds, dogs, cows, goats, and of course, roosters. Chrystina had prepared a big breakfast for us, including fresh yogurt. We walked over to TCDC and went to language orientation. Throughout the morning I met many of the students there. There are people from all across the United States, England, and Denmark. Most of the day was spent learning some basic rules of Swahili and going over general information about the program. When we got home, their son, Isaac, was there. He came right up to Wangui and I, but wouldn't say a word. I gave him the coloring book I brought, and he seemed to love it, and started coloring right away.

Franael from Nkoaranga parish contacted me again, and I'm anxious to plan the visit, however, I think he wanted me to visit more weekends than I expected. I think that our group is trying to plan a safari for a weekend, and I wouldn't want to miss out on that. 

It's been an exhausting few days, but I can't wait to get started on the instrumentation labs and get to know people better!