Who's in Tanzania?

I'm in Tanzania. After about 26 hours of traveling, I arrived in Dar Es Salaam around 10:30 last night. Today's excitement has included a Yellow Fever immunization, as well as many many neat introductions. There are a couple of volunteers here at the end of their 2-year stay, and they have been happy to answer all of our eager questions.

My group is pretty neat: there are 41 of us, 3 are computer teachers and the rest of us are secondary school math and science teachers--so it's a group dynamic (nerds) I'm familiar with. One of our volunteers is on his third Peace Corps assignment, he first went to Iran in '67, and more recently to Samoa in '01. He says that he's going to "keep doing it until I get it right."

Tomorrow we go to Morogoro, which besides having a really cool sounding name, is supposed to be a lovely place. Dar, though I haven't seen much of it, is not the nicest of cities (though the weather seems better than Houston's, if only by a little). Morogoro on the other hand, is supposed to be quite lovely. It's about 200 km inland from Dar and is pleasantly hilly.

Tomorrow night will be spent in a hostel in Morogoro, but after that I will be living with a Tanzanian family until Nov. 29, when training ends. I can't wait to dig in to learning Kiswahili and see everything I possibly can.

Off!

Here I am, with everything that I'm taking for the next two years. Two years, two duffel bags (one just contains a big backpack), a messenger bag, and a violin.

Wish List and Mailing Address

Main Mailing Address:

Gregor Passolt
PO Box 666
Njombe, Tanzania

I'll probably get a letter from America around 3 weeks after it's sent. Packages are also welcome, but never with a high declared value (Under $10 should be good), and when possible padded envelopes are highly preferred.

Phone Number: +255 752 122 810

I'll appreciate mail more than you will ever know. All letters will be responded to.

WISHLIST
I still have months left, but it feels like nothing. I don't need anything but a good welcome when I come home.

The First Post

In 10 days I'll be flying to Philadelphia, where I'll go through some brief orientation activities and get to know all the Peace Corps volunteers going to Tanzania with me. Then, on Sept 21, I'll go to a clinic to get jabbed by a lot of needles before getting on a plane for Amsterdam, where I have a very brief layover before an even longer flight to Dar Es Salaam.