Tanzania!

I love it here already. I feel like Ally and I have lived here for a long, long time and I've only been here for seven hours! Dar es Salaam is noisy and full of people who are in what appears to be organized chaos. I dig it. I can't write much right now because we are at Aunty Fatim Borde's house and sitting here to write you a novel would be rude, but just know that I am loving Tanzania. We leave for Kilimanjaro, insha'Allah, tomorrow morning at 6:20 AM. It's so weird not to be typing on a Spanish keyboard. For the record. It's also weird not to be speaking Spanish.

Okay. Gotta run. We're off to the graveyard to pay our respects to Dadu (my paternal grandfather) and then going to snag some sugar cane. Oh! We had madaafu this morning. No wonder chacha doesn't want to leave this city! We're also skipping two mehndi parties to watch futbol tonight. I'm glad everyone here has their priorities straight (yes, mother, this is directed towards you!). I love that futbol is a "thing" here. It's like as mandatory as breathing .. which is pretty mandatory .. .. .. ..

I was also thrilled to see Ally this morning at the airport. She came to receive me and is a joy. What a soul, that girl is. Suhail is being a great tour guide. I firmly believe that he has no idea what he is doing or where he is going, but, somehow, he just manages to end up where we are supposed to. Thank God Dar is tiny or else we wouldn't need a bus to get to Kili at this rate. I would recommend using his skills any day, though. He is good company.

Random sidenote. We ran into Mamaji (my maternal grandmother's brother) today while we were drinking madaafu (coconut juice straight out of a coconut) on the side of the road. I think we will be having a meal or just some chit chat at his house when we get back from the Kili trip.

Gotta go. I can feel my Kiswahili getting better already. Oh! And I'm pretty sure Ally will be teaching me words in no time. Homegirl is a natural.