Africa at last!

Well, I made it bright and early Monday morning to the Dar Es Salaam airport. Lucky for me I had some in country contacts that I could call on. Dr. Logan inevitably ended up in a traffic jam from you-know-where trying to get to the airport to pick me. My friends, Merle and Claudia (missionaries that my hometown church sponsors) arranged for a friend of theirs, who drove a taxi, to pick me up after I had waited for 2 hours. Brad and his son and Bayona were able to call me through the series of taxi men at the airport. I had borrowed a phone to make the phone call and we all met up at the Golden Tulip hotel where I spent the night. I have taken pictures, but I have to find the cord that allows me to upload the pics to my computer. The hotel was like any modern hotel in the US. Good cool room, view of the ocean and best of all, a king size bed.  Once I was checked in, I took a great shower and then embarked into the great Dar. First and foremost I have a phone!!!! My BB won't work with an international sim card but this one does. When I get back to London, I can get a sim card there and be able to use it in London. I can call internationally very cheap with this phone, but it is mainly for the people here to get a hold of me and for me to get a hold of them. Getting a new phone was quite the process. You buy the phone then take it outside to a tent where this girl punched in a whole bunch of numbers into my phone and the VodaCom phone in her other hand to activate it. There were many people there at the tent trying to transfer money using their phone to other people. I have learned that you have to be quite pushy here. Then once it was activated, I had to go put credit on it. It actually went pretty quick considering. Then we went to the Toyota dealer to see about getting the air conditioning looked at in the truck. It stopped working. Keep in mind that it takes forever to get around in Dar. The traffic is unbelievable. I think Dr. Logan said it was like Houston traffic on steroids!! I have never been in anything this bad. After the Toyota dealer we were trying to get back to the hotel because I was utterly exhausted. We got stuck in this traffic jam that was absolutely unreal. We had busses trying to turn, motorcycles creeping in everywhere not to mention the bicycles and all the people on foot. Needless to say it took 2 hours to get not very far. 
I got back and promptly went to bed. So today I am starting the journey to Morogoro and Berega. I had breakfast at the hotel, which resembles any other continental hotel breakfast and am waiting for Bayona to return to pick me up. He said he would be here around 0930, we shall see!!!!
Rebecca