We Have Arrived!

We are here...in Arusha, Tanzania. *Currently, we're sitting at an internet cafe and time is about to run out. The power in our house is out due to some transformer that is down, and it could take a few days for it to get back up. When it gets up, I'll post more.*

Until then...we got in last night. The flights were long, but very comfortable. Our airplane was far bigger than the airport (Kilamanjaro). It was dark out and 75 degrees...nice change from the Indiana winter! We have three housemates right now. Ben (another med student) and his wife Alesha (who has been showing me the ropes) are from Minnesota and leaving next Saturday. Carina (sp?) is another med student from Holland! She is hilarious and spunky. She'll be in the house even after we're gone, so I'm hoping we become quite good friends. (Side note: She told us that med school for her is about 1500 euros (roughly $2500) per year. We told her what it was costing us per year; she about had a heart attack!)

We get back to the States on June 14 (our 3 yr wedding anniversary). I think I forgot to mention that before.

Nate went in to the hospital today and worked 8:30 until noon. Today is a national holiday here, although we've had a hard time figuring out what the holiday is. It sounds something like our Veterans Day or Memorial Day. I think translated it means National Hero's Day. So, Nate's day was shorter than it will be normally, but most days he should be done around 1 or 2. I'm thrilled about that. I like to think that I'm a fairly independent person, but I'm feeling a tad dependent now that we are here. However, by far, my favorite thing so far is how excited little kids get when they see Mzungus (white people)...every time we walk by a kid (or group of kids), they all say "hello" or "how are you" in really adorable accents. They don't know any other English though, which is ok because that's about how much Swahili I know right now. They are adorable! This will not get old!

*When I initially tried to post this, I was at an internet cafe and when I tried to post it, I ran out of time that I paid for. So, I'm posting it now (fortunately it saved most of it) from home where we now have power!!