23 Days!

It's been awhile since I posted about my trip. It has been a flurry of calendar markings and check writing and appointment making, and snow. I thought that maybe this year I would appreciate the snow more since I won't be here to witness all of it, but I find myself thinking that maybe the snow would be a lot nicer to me if it knew I was planning on leaving it for better weather soon. Maybe send me some flowers or something.

My leave date has been cemented and couldn't come soon enough- January 13th at 5:54pm, from Charlotte International Airport. I have one stop in Washington, D.C. before flying into Doha International Airport in Qatar for the night, and leave the next morning for Dar Es Salaam. Upon arriving I will be issued a volunteer visa and be picked up by John Mashaka's fiance, Perpetua, and a few days later I will be visiting the school I will be working at, and perhaps moving to a temporary residence there.

I love talking about the details of my trip, but the closer it gets the more I feel overwhelmed and anxious, not unlike the feelings I had before leaving for college (college being albeit much colder and less malaria-infested). My family are starting to show signs of being stressed as well, and I know it's out of concern for my safety. I'm not nervous about being safe. I'm more nervous about getting there and not knowing what to do, and being unsure of what steps come next. The fear of being idle, not the fear of failing, drives me to keep my enthusiasm about the trip and avoid the condemnations of the naysayers.

After Christmas I will start packing my suitcase and carry-on bag (Pun time!! What do vultures take while traveling? Carrion!!); I am taking 3 books with me, only because ] any more than that will just be unruly. Also will be taking a few deflated soccer balls and some frisbees to give the kids there. Packing is one of my favorite things to do in preparation for a trip; when I went to Hawaii it took me two weeks to pack.

I didn't end up wearing half of the clothes I packed then, but this time I will be packing more iodine tablets and batteries than clothes. A few white t-shirts and jeans will be my wardrobe for most of my trip, aside from what clothes I might get at the markets that everyone tells me are so eccentric.

To wrap this up since now I'm just babbling in excitement, I will probably post more after Christmas, when I get to start packing and also go get my shots.

Kwa Heri, everyone!

Tminus 2 Months!

Two months away from departure date- better get down to business.

First things first, addressing the blog. "Chura" is the Swahili name for "frog", and as some of you know I am crazy about frogs. In many Swahili-speaking tribes, the frog is a symbol of transformation and change (also fertility but that doesn't really apply here). As a young woman with everything to play for in the future, I am thinking a lot about this trip in terms of transforming myself into a more conscientious and globally-responsible human bean.

I've been planning parts of my trip since last November. The winter of 2009-10 nearly had me migrating further South, but I wised up this year and will be spending most of the winter on the Equator where my sandaled feet belong.

My trip as of now sticks me right in the middle of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania's coastal capital city.

A man named John Mashaka, the founder and executive director of the Mashaka Foundation, has quite a few connections in Tanzania and has been gracious enough to get in touch with them for the sake of finding me a safe place to stay. Right now there are about four folks who would be willing to take me in, but each time I speak to John the number grows.

John contacted me a week ago to provide a chance for me to gather advice on African Do's-and-Don'ts. He asked about the organization I had told him I was going with, and how much money it was. When I told him, he said to me "No, no, no, you should never have to pay to volunteer. I have friends in Tanzania, I will make some calls and make sure you have a safe place to stay. Do not worry about paying that organization."

Those words were music to my unbelieving ears; my mind until then had been in an unending loop of money making schemes that grew progressively less feasible. And here, my problem solved! All that would be left to pay was the plane ticket and a few various trip preparations and safety funds, an amount that was far more feasible than before. I stumbled over my words in paragraphs of gratitude and jubilation, and upon hanging up the phone I exploded into a mess of Facebook updates and emails and text messages and running through the house spewing good news.

John will be at my fundraiser Friday, helping me to make the food (tea marsala, chapati bread with chicken and carrots and tomatoes, and rice). He has also agreed to speak about his organization, specifically a program which sends needy kids to school (since I will be working in schools and orphanages) and another that is building water towers for villages without water. I cannot wait; it seems too soon for all of this to be coming to fruition but I am ecstatic that it finally is.

John Mashaka Foundation: http://www.mashakafoundation.org/