February 4-21, 2015

We had a late flight to Tanzania out of Rome that stopped in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for a three hour layover early the next morning. This was our first experience in Africa and we all had no idea what to expect, especially from the airport. We exited the plane and immediately went through an Ebola screening process. Basically, we just had our temperatures scanned. There were posters nearby detailing the symptoms with some lovely animations (think diarrhea) for international understanding. (I did take pictures but these were lost with the stolen ipad).

We had a walk around the airport and tried to find a spot to rest before our flight to Arusha. Most of the comfy reclining chairs were taken, so we eventually settled in some seats in a main walkway and tried to take it all in.

Outside of the Ebola screeninig, the two main observations letting us know we were certainly in a different part of the world were the clothing and the consistent reminders of Muslim practices. The airport even had prayer rooms, separate locations for men and women. We would soon adjust to the calls to prayer and conservative dress code. The bathrooms differences could be a whole blog post itself, but I'll spare you all that...at least for now.

We got antsy and entered our crowded gate area early. We found some open seats near a window at another gate. From these windows we could watch the construction of an addition to the airport. As an engineer, Michael found this particularly interesting. A Chinese company seemed to be in charge of the project and it looked they were training many local residents to do the work.

Our flight to Arusha was uneventful....the best kind. The heat hit us as we walked across the tarmac to the smallest airport we've been in so far...so small you could see the plane, passport control and your luggage all from the same spot. It was so different from Rome. Entering from Ethiopia requires a yellow fever vaccination. Fortunately, we knew this and because we were only in Ethiopia a few hours, we were exempt. Maeve and Liam were quite happy to avoid another shot.

There was no AC in the tiny airport, clearly not an issue for the locals who were smiling and welcoming each individual. I have to say this was probably our nicest foreign country entry experience. We paid for our visas and cleared passport control with no problems. We picked up our bags and Maeve announced she had to use the bathroom, which happened to be on the other side of passport control. The guards gladly let us pass through again to use the facilities. This would not happen anywhere else.

Father Ephrem was waiting outside to transport us to our hostel. This was prearranged by Michael and Father Prosper. Michael has a relative who was ambassador to Portugal and Tanzania. She gave us the contact information of people in these countries who may be of interest and assistance to us during our travels. Michael reached out and began communicating with them. Michael and Father Prosper had been emailing for several weeks now and we were more than happy to have his advice and assistance with our stay.

We stayed at Centre House, a hostel that is owned by the Catholic Archdiocese. We were greeted there with an extroardinarily warm welcome from Judith, the general manager of the hostel and other staff members. A delicious lunch was prepared and waiting for us. This was both a surprise and relief as we weren't sure how we were going to get our next meal and we did not have any Tanzanian schillings.

Father Ephrem and Judith showed us our rooms. They were willing to give us each our own room, but we managed to move another bed into one room so Maeve and Liam could share.

From this point on, our entire time in Arusha was managed by Father Ephrem, Father (now Bishop) Prosper and Judith. They arranged our transportation, our meals, our safari and other excursions. Every need or request was met with an immediate response or solution. We were truly blessed to have their help. I cannot imagine how we would have managed ourselves in Arusha without their assistance.

Everyone we met in Arusha went out of their way to make us feel comfortable. The key Swahili word is Karibu or welcome. We were regularly told, 'this is your home now'. And with that, we settled into our new home for the next two weeks.

Wonderful Judith and our awesome driver Fidelis

The results of Judith's talent...new handmade skirts for Maeve and me

Enjoying a great moment...family card game