Education in Tanzania

(This was written last Thursday)

Hello to all of you from bright and sunny Tanzania. We have heard from some of you and from other CCS volunteers about the blizzards and huge snow storms that many of you are having. We wish that we could send you some of our heat!

Today (February 3) is Jean’s turn to write. I have decided to begin with an explanation of the Q.Ts. and add some more description of the Tanzanian educational system. I will certainly understand if some of you don’t want to read the entire post. It may be much too long. However, Kirk and I will keep it to read when we’re old and feeble and want to remember this experience in Tanzania.

The educational system here in Tanzania seems to have two tracks: a systematic one which includes both public and private schools and an alternative one which is designed to help those who can’t complete the systematic one for one reason or another.

First, I’ll describe the systematic system. It is much like ours. Primary school consists of Standards One through Seven. Students usually begin Standard One when they are about six years old and complete Standard Seven when they are about 13 or 14 years old. Upon completing Standard Seven, the students take a National Exam which tests whether they have learned whatever they were supposed to learn through those years.

The CCS staff member (Sarah) who described this process to me said that completion of Standard Seven and passing the National Exam is still not enough for employment in the country. Students must go on beyond this Primary level of education to the next level, the Secondary level.

The Secondary Level of education consists of Form One, Two, Three and Four. After completing Form Four, students can continue to Forms Five and Six, but that is not required for successful employment. Both the Primary and Secondary levels have good and bad public schools which are often overcrowded and expensive private schools which many people simply cannot afford for their child or children.

The alternative system is designed for those children who cannot pass the National Exam. There are many reasons why a child may not have passed that exam. They may have attended a very bad public primary school. Perhaps they couldn’t attend primary school at all. Perhaps they could attend classes some of the year, but not the entire school year. I’m sure that we could all list many additional reasons because they also occur in our own country.

If a child has not been able to pass the National Exam, they can attend classes
similar to the ones that I teach to prepare to take the Qualifying Test 1. If they should pass QT 1, it completes the requirements for both Form 1 and Form 2 of the Secondary level of education. After passing the QT 1, they can attend classes to study for the QT 2; and if they pass that test, it will satisfy the requirements for Forms 3 and 4. So, the QT tests are an alternative to the “official” Secondary educational track which can be followed only if one successfully passes the National Exam.

I was told that there is also a QT 3 which satisfies the requirements for Forms 5 and 6, but my class is focused on QT 1.

If this is not clear, please ask me questions and I’ll ask others here or try to explain what I know. As I write it, I realize that this is not much different from our own educational system. There are simply different names.

Something happened yesterday that is also important to note: punishment is harsh in this country. I am reporting what I was told because I saw little and understood even less, but I heard some of it. I saw several students from Form 1 standing in
the sun which shone on the road in front of our classroom. I was told that the class did not know the material that they were supposed to know and, therefore, every member was forced to stand in the hot sun in the roadway. Their teacher would ask individuals questions about the material and, if they answered the question correctly, they could come inside and out of the sun.

Several students were left standing in the roadway (and sun) because they couldn’t answer a question correctly. I didn’t see how many students were left. However, I heard their hands being hit by the headmistress. I heard more than a hand slap and therefore think that they were hit with a ruler, but I’m not sure. My students could see this punishment and certainly were not thinking about whatever I meant to discuss with them at that moment!

The next topic in the educational system is not new, but I had forgotten about it. Long ago, when students from this part of the world came to Hesston College, they described the large number of students in the classrooms and the way that teachers taught. The teacher would write a paragraph on the board, the students would copy it. The teacher would write another paragraph on the board and the students would copy it. That would go on all day long. At night the students would memorize what they had copied and the next day would have to repeat it word for word. That is the way most classes are taught here in Tanzania, too. Discussion and fun is at a minimum in the classroom.

My partner, Melissa, and I want to have fun while teaching and learning. So today’s discussion of Solar System involved going down the “street” to another building with a very large classroom. The room had to be unlocked and the benches and chairs moved to the walls.
Then Mama Jean stood next to a post in an effort to be “The Sun.” Each student was a different planet and had to move around the Sun in an elliptical orbit.

The room was way too small to do this with each planet’s distance from the sun correctly in proportion, but the idea was to get them to understand the orbits of the planets, the shape of an ellipse and the idea of a year. Then we also used one of the students to explain that the concept of a day was related to the rotation of each planet while it is also revolving around the sun. We are convinced that the students understood what we were trying to teach them much better than they would have understood it if they had copied a paragraph and memorized it.

One last item (though there are many that I will save for next week): the students are expected to sit on their benches from 8:15 am until noon. That is totally unfair! Frankly, I need some stretching and some exercise! So, between classes and, therefore, about every hour, we do some stretching and some yoga stretches. I wish that I could remember the poses that we used today, but they have to do with arm stretches, leg lunges, twists and bends. I brought a copy of the explanation of several yoga poses with me. Next week we’ll do more of them. We just can’t get on the ground because it is so dusty. More about this next week.

Tomorrow (Friday) Kirk and I will skip our assignment and leave at 8 am to fly to Zanzibar where we will spend the weekend in a nice, clean hotel, on the beach and in the Indian Ocean as we swim and snorkel. We are SOOOO excited! And we’ll tell you all about it when we return.

I am sorry that this was so long, but it brings love to all of you,
Mama Jean and Babu

Kirk’s work assignment and more

Greetings to all from hot and dusty Moshi. (We understand that our weather is in sharp contrast to what most of you are experiencing in late January and early February). I find myself looking forward most eagerly to my daily shower at 5:00 every afternoon. I don’t even mind that the water is slightly cold. We haven’t had much or reliable electricity during the past two days, so whatever hot water we enjoy is due to the storage tank being on the building’s roof. Be that as it may, as I write at 7:30 pm (Moshi is 8 hours ahead of Eastern Time), a very pleasant breeze is flowing through the open air pavilion where I’m seated. For the evening meal today, we enjoyed fish tenders, potatoes, tomatoes and cucumbers, and a fabulous banana pudding. We’re eating well, with small servings of meat once a day, lots of wonderful vegetables, and an endless parade of pineapples, watermelon, papayas, mangos, avocados, and bananas.

Last night all 30 or so volunteers were taken
by Cross Cultural Solutions to a nearby restaurant named Africa Adventure where we enjoyed an impressive buffet, Tanzanian dances and music, and a troupe of acrobats
whose performance was quite amazing. Being tired of water and tea, Jean and I ordered our first alcoholic beverages since arriving. We bought a small bottle of a strange vodka which Jean added to a bottle of passion fruit juice and a 500 ml bottle of Kilimanjaro Beer. It was a huge and very refreshing brew, and cost $1.30. Anyway, it was a fun evening.

My work assignment is very interesting. TunaHAKI is a small orphanage that focuses on training children to be acrobats and gymnasts in hopes that they will be able to hire themselves out to make a living when they age out of the orphanage.
Twenty or so of the children I see every day live at the orphanage, and another 20 or so are community kids from very, very poor families who only come to TunaHAKI for a few hours in the morning. Some of the kids who live at the orphanage have been abandoned by parents who gave up and placed the kids on the streets to make their way. The ones from the community are given a breakfast bowl of corn and hot nutritious porridge which for some may be the only food they receive all day. The orphanage is in a desperately poor neighborhood. The rides to and from work every day take me through sights and conditions of life that I never thought I’d see again in my life. The poorest of families with no obvious source of income continue to add children.
When I asked why this is I was told that child bearing is the only purposeful activity that many very poor women experience and that men do their thing and run away to the next female without assuming any responsibility. Be that as it may, some of these 5, 6 and 7 year olds make their way to TunaHAKI. I was told today that next week I will be part of the TunaHAKI team that will visit some of these homes [As I write, the electricity has gone off again so rather than using the laptop’s limited battery, I will suspend writing until we have power again. I will have more to say about where the children come from after that.]

The house's generator was started, so the electricity is back on so I’ll write fast before it goes off again. The morning at TunaHAKI is divided into three segments. From 8:30 to 10:30 I help the Teacher teach the children very basic arithmetic and a few English words. They are well behaved, attentive and responsive. From 10:30 to 11:00, Babu Kirk plays with the children.
We put puzzles together, sing active songs, and then the highlight of the day… I horse around and rough house with the kids. Tickle stomachs, trap with my legs, etc. Then Babu goes to sleep and all 20 pile on. When Babu wakes up he growls like a lion and scares the daylights out of the kids. They run away, Babu goes to sleep again, the kids stream back and pile on again, and the cycle repeats. The director of the orphanage says that this is the only time of day that many of the kids will laugh and be excited/animated, have fun, and are happy. It’s quite a sight. This is why I wait to shower until the afternoon!

At 11:00 the community kids go home (families are too poor to send them to school) and the orphanage children put on their uniforms and go to school. For the next hour I sit with the Director and the Teacher and we visit about everything from religion to Obama to birth control to economic development to love and marriage in Tanzania. These hour chats are so informative and enriching. We are developing neat relationships. The Director has 19 siblings and the Teacher has 11. Each is the sole source of support for their extended families. We talk about that a lot too. Tomorrow at 11:00 the Teacher has invited me to go to his home. That should be interesting. I went to the grocery this afternoon and purchased two kilograms of sugar as my gift for his hospitality. I was advised to take sugar, cooking oil, or soap. I decided on sugar. You’ll be hearing more during the days ahead about my work at TunaHAKI.

This afternoon all volunteers attended a lecture about HIV/AIDS. It has seriously diminished Tanzania’s economy, professional ranks, and local/national quality of life. We were told that 98% of HIV/AIDS in Tanzania is caused by heterosexual activity. Very little is homosexual in origin. The many orphanages in Moshi and other places have sprung up during the past 20 years (TunaHAKI was founded in 1998) and are almost the exclusive creation of the AIDS epidemic. There were three cases of AIDS in Tanzania in 1983; now there are millions. Two-thirds of the world’s AIDS is found in Sub-Sahara Africa. The enormous social and economic devastation AIDS has caused here and in eastern Africa cannot be exaggerated. I am glad to report that the percentage of Tanzania’s population of 36 million who suffer from AIDS has begun to decline. The adverse social and economic impact, however, will be a reality for decades to come. That’s probably enough about a very disheartening and complex phenomenon.

Following lunch this noon, Jean and I went to the outdoor water spicket, filled a bucket with water and a little detergent, and proceeded to wash our clothes and hang them up on a nearby line. It’s quite amazing to see how quickly our clothes become soiled with dust and other street dirt.

On Friday morning we leave for three days in Zanzibar off Tanzania’s east coast. We return to Moshi on Sunday evening and go back to work on Monday morning.

Thanks for reading our blogs, and for sharing your comments. It’s always good to hear from you. But now it’s time for my nightly ration of M&Ms and then to bed. Jean and I hardly know what’s going on in the rest of the world. We heard that the Midwest is experiencing another huge winter storm and that riots continue in Egypt and elsewhere. For people who enjoy reading newspapers and keeping up with international developments, it feels very strange to know so little. We both are reading a lot. Tonight I will finish Stacy Schiff’s biography of Cleopatra, and begin Hillary Mantel’s book about life in England in the 1520s under Henry VIII. Jean loves her kindle and is now reading Sweetness in the Belly, which is set in Ethiopia. For now, however, that’s it. We hope to go to an Internet Café tomorrow and post this on the blog.

Love you very much…
Babu and Mama Jean

First Day at Our Assignments

After we met yesterday with the representatives of our placements, we eagerly awoke this morning to begin.
I (Jean) found that my assignment is not actually focused on working with three to five year olds. Since I have taught people who will become teachers (in Central Kansas) and college mathematics, the headmistress at the House of Learning wants me to teach the oldest students.

They are in the QT class, which means that they are preparing to take the Qualifying Exam for something. I can’t yet understand what they are hoping to qualify for, but I’ll find out in the coming weeks.

The eight students are between 12 and 19 years of age and have had very little schooling. They learn by copying paragraphs off the blackboard and later repeating it for the exam. My partner, Melissa, is a primary school substitute teacher in CA, so she is delightful to work with and has many ideas. She and I didn’t expect to be asked to teach anything today, but were. We scrambled, decided to use our time to learn what these students already knew and be creative as we moved onward.

Therefore, we began by reviewing the alphabet song with our students, who were proud to show us that they knew some English. We then asked them to help us list words that began with certain letters of the alphabet (F, R, L, M and G). Then we had them make very, very simple sentences which contained a pronoun and a verb. For nearly an hour Melissa helped the nursery teacher with the youngest students, so I taught English by myself. We were exhausted after having stood on our feet for the entire morning! I haven’t done that since leaving Kansas City!

At the end of the morning, we talked with the headmistress again and have decided to break the morning schedule into three parts: English, math and geography. We’re going to see if that works. If not, we’ll try something different
It looks as though Kirk will be able to use the wonderful teaching materials that some of you sent with me. But I’ll let him tell all of you about his work assignment in tomorrow’s message.

I greatly appreciate the philosophy of House of Learning, where I am volunteering. A previous volunteer who just left Tanzania has set up a web site to explain more about it. Go to www.thehouseoflearning.net to read some of the stories of young people who are in our classes, to learn about their philosophy and to see some terrific pictures of where I work. It is a wonderful outreach to very marginalized children. (If that web site doesn't work for you, try www.houseoflearning.net, but I think I have the right address above.)

After lunch Kirk and I went downtown to an Internet Café to enter the blog posts for the last four days. After 1 ½ hours of internet time, I’m not sure that they are available for you to read. Christopher is helping me see if they are available. If not, I’ll enter them again.

Tonight we’ll be going to dinner at a local theater where we will have dinner and watch a performance of native dances and acrobatics. Kirk has said that he will write about it in tomorrow’s blog.

By the way, I am now known as Mama Jean. It turns out that in Tanzania, the Swahili word that is used for Grandmother is BiBi. I’ve asked about Nya Nya and have been told that in Tanzania, Nya Nya is used for Great Grandmother. No one has suggested that I be called Nya Nya! Thank heavens! I could be called Mama Chris because a Tanzanian woman is often called Mama followed by the name of her first child. So, for me that is Mama Chris. However, everyone seems to think that Mama Jean is also good. I’m comfortable with that.

I am going to let Kirk tell you about tonight’s entertainment when he writes tomorrow’s post.

We both send our greetings to you from dry and dusty Moshi and hope you are having a good week.
Mama Jean and Babu Kirk

Monday, January 31, 2011

Dear Family and Friends,

This was a very intense and full and beneficial day of orientation activities. Jean and I are very tired, but will go to sleep this evening with huge smiles on our faces.

First of all… I have been renamed “Babu” which means grandfather in Swahili. I am the oldest of the 35 volunteers that make up the current group, and I am very, very old in the eyes of most Tanzanians. The average age at death here is 45 for women and 43 for men, so I am considered an ancient specimen and am being accorded the respect and awe that is accorded the elderly!

Before I describe the day’s activities, I want to tell you that there are three ways of telling time in Tanzania. The first is “rooster time.” The roosters in our neighborhood (and apparently in most places) are accustomed to crowing at the same time each day. For example, the rooster in our compound crows at 4:45, 5:45, and 6:45 in the morning. So far, we could set our watches by the crowing, so dependable are our highly educated roosters! The second way of telling time is like we do in the US and the western world. Here, it is mostly foreigners and organizations such as airlines that use this way of telling time.

The third way is to begin 12 hour cycles at sunrise and sun set. This is considered Tanzania Time. As you probably know, Tanzania is close enough to the equator (3 degrees south) that the day is almost perfectly divided between daylight and darkness. So, our 7:00 am is 1:00 in the morning in Tanzania Time; 9:00 am is 3:00, 12 noon is 6:00 in Tanzania Time, etc. Likewise, our 7:00 pm, or one hour after dark, is 1:00 in the evening in Tanzania Time. Etc. The funny thing is that no one is hardly ever on time, but no one here is ever late. Just “delayed!” And there are millions of reasons for being delayed… and no one is ever upset. Things are very laid-back.

The Tanzania we’ve seen so far is very rural and agrarian, and quite poor and underdeveloped. We may have underestimated eastern Africa’s poverty and underdeveloped economy. We’re certain that there are middle and upper classes here in Moshi, or Arusha, or in the handful of other “large” cities of Tanzania and we will make a point of seeing where they reside. But so far we are impressed with the depth and extent of the country’s poverty.

In many ways, Tanzania feels to Jean and me like it is at the same stage of development that Korea was when we lived there in 1970-71. We learned today that only 15% of Tanzania’s adult population earns a reliable paycheck that can be depended on from month to month. Apparently to a very great extent, this 15% supports the rest or at the least is their extended family’s safety net. One lady privately complained to Jean and me this afternoon that after she has paid to keep her extended family alive, there is hardly enough left to send her children to school. We sensed that she resented the situation, but being one of the few in her family to receive a regular pay check she feels seriously obliged to support the others.

Presenters at today’s orientation sessions talked about being dressed appropriately (aka modest attire) when we leave the Cross Cultural Solutions Home-Base, being sure that we know which kind of time telling is being referred to when we make appointments, how to greet the various types of people we’ll be in touch with, how to handle individuals who may want to abuse our friendship by asking for special
favors or financial support, how to say yes and no to invitations (in Tanzania, no one ever says no, so there are various ways of saying yes that may actually mean no!), the meaning of body language, how to bargain effectively when in a public market, and how to give and receive directions in a culture that does not use maps or street names/addresses.

Before lunch, time was devoted to personal goal setting. Jean and I each developed three specific, measurable goals for our Cross Cultural Solutions experience. Once a week we will meet with our program director to review how we are doing with our goals and also discuss areas of concern or disappointment. CCS is doing its best to make sure that we feel satisfied and that our time in Tanzania is worthwhile and beneficial.

After lunch, we were each introduced to the individual who will be our supervisor when we begin our volunteer work tomorrow morning. Jean and I feel that we are partnered with very capable, devoted, and personable individuals who run seriously under-resourced but effective nonprofit organizations. We’ll describe our actually experiences during the days ahead.

Later in the afternoon, the entire group of volunteers was transported to a village outside Moshi. For two hours we were hosted by the village chief and the “village mama” who walked with us on the winding direct walkways/roads, took us to the public market, answered questions about governance and the election of public officials, life style, economics, land ownership, and religious life. We saw a few houses that were “upscale” but life for most in the village of Rau is very basic. We were fortunate enough to be invited to enter several homes (some did not have electricity, only a few had indoor bathrooms or plumbing, and all seemed to include chickens). And I stopped by the village bar for a few minutes and for 40 cents was able to enjoy a bottle of banana beer, the local brew, with two of the local guys.



We returned to Home-Base around 6:30 pm, showered, and enjoyed another wonderful meal of vegetables, beef, salad, and fruit. Jean and I are eating well, enjoying new friendships with delightful folks from all over, and getting great nights of sleep beneath mosquito netting. All day and night there are unending animal sounds, Muslim calls to prayer, Christian church bells, and various vehicular noises. By the way, Tanzania is evenly divided between Sunni Muslims and Roman Catholic and Lutheran Christians. The country is proud that relations between its Muslim and Christian populations are said to be peaceful.

My pre-bed snack is 8 M&Ms! And then it is to bed. “Lala salama”… which means sleep well and sweet dreams!

With our love,
Babu and Jean

Our first full day in Tanzania, January 30, 2011

We woke up between 6 and 6:30 am today to a sunny, beautiful day. After a delicious breakfast of crepes, French toast and fruit (mango, pineapple and bananas), we had a short language introduction and tour of the Home Base compound. Then we went on a two hour walking tour of downtown Moshi.

On this Sunday morning, we found Moshi to be a colorful but rather small town. Both the Catholic and Lutheran churches were holding worship services. We heard wonderful singing from the Lutheran church. The local market was full of activity. Kirk got some shillings from one of the ATM machines that are located downtown. The current exchange rate is approximately 1,400 shillings to $1.00. We found the beans that we’ll buy late in our stay here to fill the cushion for the camera that we’ll use during the safari after we complete our three weeks with CCS. We also passed several stores that sell East African arts and crafts. They were closed on this Sunday morning, so we don’t know yet what we might buy to take home with us. That will be a focus of another trip downtown.

The two hours of walking in the hot sun was rather draining, so we were glad to return to Home Base while others visited a Safari Tour company. Because of the brutal direct sun light, while in the market Kirk bought a cute, broad-rimmed safari hat with a Mt. Kilimanjaro logo. The vender’s first price was 30,000 shillings. Kirk offered 5,000. After several offers back and forth, Kirk finally bought the hat ten minutes later for 7,500 ($5.00). Jean thinks he looks cute in his hat. He certainly looks ready for any trekking that we might do!

We returned to Home Base for a lunch of vegetarian “meatballs” in tomato sauce, spaghetti noodles, tomatoes, cucumbers and fruit. The veggies are served with a delicious salsa. I could live on the salsa, I think!

After lunch, both of us took a nap before returning to the covered meal pavilion for an hour of presentations about “Tanzanian culture” and the completion of work on our resident permit applications.

After we completed all of the papers for our resident permit applications and paid our fees, we had dinner. It included beef in bar-b-que sauce, tomatoes and cucumbers and salsa, bananas and fruit. We’re certainly going to eat well while we’re here.

After dinner, we joined a group of new and “seasoned” volunteers who were picked up by Pristine Tour Company and taken to their office for a presentation about possible trips that we could take. The presentation was well done and professional. They initially thought that everyone would be interested in a safari. Of course, we have already planned a different safari with the Clarks. We were most interested in a trip to Zanzibar and found that others were also interested in that trip. Tomorrow we’ll find out what arrangements can be made for us to go to Zanzibar. We also liked their tour which focuses on a one-day climb of Mt. Kili. Hope to sign up for that one.

Oh, yes, the presentation was accompanied by Tanzanian beer, South African wine, cashews, lots of sodas and bottled water. In addition, Pristine Tours has a lot of experience working with Cross Cultural Solution volunteers. Therefore, they know the restrictions that we experience because of our volunteer assignments.

After the presentation, we returned to Home Base and our beds. It was a great day filled with lots of sun and lots of interesting things to think about.

More tomorrow.
Love from both of us.

We’re in Tanzania – Finally!

Dear Family and Friends,

Seventy four hours after leaving our home on Wednesday afternoon, we finally arrived on Saturday afternoon at the Kilimanjaro Airport in northern Tanzania. Once we were able to board our Ethiopian Airlines flight in Washington, the seventeen hour trip to Moshi was very pleasant and uneventful. We flew from Dulles to Addis Ababa on a very new and comfortable 777 aircraft that was in its third week of operation.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that we’re still in the same clothes that we left home in! But we’re glad to be here with our luggage. A sound night’s sleep will take care of a serious case of jet lag.

A Cross Cultural Solutions representative met us at the Kilimanjaro airport and brought us and other volunteers who were on the plane from Addis Ababa to Moshi. Twenty one of the volunteers are new this weekend, and 11 others are continuing. So it’s a large group. Our early impression is that the group will be fun and compatible. Some of us are in our 60s, and others are still in college. So far we have met volunteers from 7 or 8 countries. The table conversation will be very interesting. Jean and I have been assigned a private sleeping room with a shared bath. The facility reminds us of a YMCA camp, but it will be fine. Tomorrow we begin with orientation sessions and a tour of Moshi.

The point of this brief posting is to let you know that we are safely in Moshi, and are making lots of new friends. Moshi is in its dry and hot season so the countryside looks parched, dusty, and drab. As expected, the sun is very overhead, direct, and hot. In fact, the high temperature tomorrow will reach 101 degrees. It’s good that a lot of what we do is outdoors. For example, our meals are enjoyed in an open, outdoor pavilion. This is where I sit as I write. A pleasant breeze is flowing through to make things very comfortable.




It’s 7:30 and we’ve just finished the evening meal with lots of fruit, good food, and visiting. As you can probably tell, we’re dragging and in need of a solid night’s sleep. Jean and I will know a lot more when we write again tomorrow evening.





Love you all…
Kirk and Jean

Plane trip from Cincinnati to Washington, DC

Thursday, January 27

(Jean is writing this blog entry from a lovely Hampton Inn near Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC)

Surprise! Things don’t always go as planned. Yesterday morning’s weather reports predicted that a huge snow storm would hit the East Coast sometime during the afternoon. Therefore, our travel agent suggested that we get to Cincinnati as soon as possible to ensure that we arrived in Washington in time to catch our 11 am, Jan. 27, Ethiopian Airlines flights to Addis Ababa and Kilimanjaro.

Margie and Hank Clark graciously changed their afternoon plans and drove us to the Cincinnati airport which is really in Northern Kentucky. We discovered that earlier flights would not be leaving for DC. Even worse, we were informed that the Delta flight we were scheduled to take to DC was being diverted to Detroit. We were also told that we would not have to get off the plane in Detroit because it was just “picking up additional passengers” to lessen the number of Dulles’ arriving flights.

The ticket agent who checked us into the system in Cincinnati said that there was a chance that we wouldn’t leave Detroit so she booked us on a 7:30 am flight this morning out of Detroit to Dulles.

Sure enough, when we got to Detroit, we were told that we had to deplane and stay overnight in Detroit. All Washington area airports were closed down due to the snow storm. However, most of the hotels near the Detroit airport were already full because of the many cancellations that had already occurred during the day. We finally got a room at a Red Roof Inn and had dinner at 11:30 pm. But we were comforted knowing that we had that 7:30 am option to get to Dulles in time to catch our 11 am flight to Africa.

We caught a shuttle back to the Detroit airport at 5:30 am only to discover that our 7:30 am flight had been cancelled. Kirk found some wonderfully helpful Delta employees, but found out that the next available flight would be at 5:30 pm today, much too late to catch our flight to Ethiopia.

As we were walking down the concourse to get a cup of coffee, we saw a gate for an 8:45 am Delta flight to Reagan Airport. Kirk asked about available seats and told the agent about our problem, so she put us on the stand-by list and made sure that we got on that flight. We knew that we were flying to the wrong airport, but by taking a really fast 40 minute cab ride from Reagan National to Dulles, there was still hope that we would be able to catch our Ethiopian Airlines flight.

By this time, our bags were booked all the way to the Kilimanjaro Airport, and Jean was pretty sure that things were so mixed up that we would never ever see them again.

The sun was shining as we landed in Washington. Our cab driver was from Ethiopia and very excited that we were going to be visiting his country. He spent the entire 40 minute cab ride to Dulles telling us what books we should read and where we should go while visiting Ethiopia. We learned later that we will actually fly into the city where he lived before moving to the USA. Upon arrival at Dulles, he wished us a wonderful visit to his beloved country.

Alas, upon arrival at Dulles we learned that our flight had already left. We found helpful Ethiopian Airlines employees who helped us rebook our flight to Addis Ababa. We’ll be going on the same flight… except tomorrow rather than today. Unfortunately, we’ll be on stand-by for the flight from Addis Ababa to Tanzania. But they also booked us on the next flight to Tanzania in case we can’t get on the flight that we want.

Since we now had an unexpected 24 hours in DC, we tried to find out where our luggage was. We learned that our bags were back at Reagan National! Delta had made sure that the bags followed us. When we asked Delta to transfer our bags to Dulles where we now were, Delta told us that that could only be accomplished by first flying them to Atlanta and then to Dulles, arriving about 9:30 pm tonight (maybe). Since Kirk didn’t have anything better to do, and we really wanted to see our bags again before turning them over to Ethiopian Airlines tomorrow, he decided to take an hour shuttle ride to Reagan, gather up our luggage from Delta, and return to Dulles via the shuttle with our bags.

In the meantime, Jean checked us and our carry-ons into a Hampton Inn, called travel agents and Cross Cultural Solutions representatives who needed to know about the change in our plans, and did some suitcase reorganizing.

Now we are both in our hotel room, all rested and repacked, and will soon meet niece Lana and her friend James for dinner. It is ironic that the roadways today in Washington are clear. The snow is piled 20 feet high on the sides of roads and is weighing down the branches of trees, but the roadways are clear. However, people who live here tell us about the terrible storm last night and how impossible and dangerous it was to be out and about.

This unexpected disruption in travel makes us happy we added an extra day to our travel plans. We are thankful that we are safe, and that we have our luggage. It could have been so much worse. We encountered many helpful and pleasant airline employees at all four airports that we’ve been in since yesterday afternoon when we thought we’d be making a short one-hour flight from Cincinnati to Dulles.

Assuming that everything tomorrow goes as planned, the next posting on this blog will be from Moshi, Tanzania. The excitement builds as we anticipate the next several weeks!

Love to all of you,
Jean and Kirk