Flights and arrival

Posted by Ali

Please let me back up a little bit from my last post. First of all, in Boston it was pretty hard to go through security and then wave goodbye to Jonathan and step on the escalator going down to an under-the-tarmac walkway to the next terminal. But, I cheered up when I saw an awesome poster hanging on the wall a few minutes later. Unfortunately, I was zipping along on the moving sidewalk too fast to slip off my backpack and get out my camera to snap a picture. (Edit: A few days ago, I Googled the campaign slogan and found a picture online for your entertainment.)

Now imagine this airport-poster size

I thought it was rather clever and memorable, so good job on advertising, Dentyne. Once I got to my gate I quickly got out my computer and posted a blog about leaving. While I was doing that, the flight started boarding, but I was able to finish my post before they got to boarding Zone 4. Soon I was settled in my seat, reading the in-flight magazine. The ride was great although, about an hour into the flight, I got worried for awhile when I checked the safety card to find out what type of airplane I was occupying and noticed it was an A-330. (One of Jonathan's friends had just been talking about that plane while we were camping a few days earlier and how it's had some safety problems in the past year.) I decided that I couldn't really get out by that time in the flight so, since I wasn't tired at all, I just stayed awake all night watching two and a half chick flicks instead of worrying. (The entertainment system shut off about 45 minutes before we landed so now it'll be another 9 months before I find out how "Dear John" ends:( And it shut off in a rather depressing part, too...)

We landed in Amsterdam's Schiphol airport a few minutes early, just before 8 a.m. and I made my way to my gate in a neighbouring terminal after printing out my next boarding pass at a transfer station. That was a new experience for me, but it wasn't hard to do, although several people seemed to be quite lost about the whole procedure. I spent the next two hours sitting at my gate reading and doing the Sudoku's in the complimentary flight magazine that I had stuffed in my backpack and grinning at all the active kids racing around the seats.  The last hour of my layover was spent standing in a line to go through Schiphol's secondary screening process and metal detectors. Then I boarded my second flight and found out that I had the whole row to myself. What a relief! There were quite a few empty seats around the B-777 and I think many people were glad for the extra room. I watched two more chick flicks, and dozed for about an hour between each one, although I still wasn't really very tired. I also spent a good amount of the flight eating since the lovely KLM flight attendants kept handing out food. It was quite surprising to be given so many free meals after flying solely within North America for the past two and a half years. Suddenly I looked out the window and discovered that it was dusk. I'm not sure why that astonished me so much, but I guess I had forgotten that I wasn't in the north with our long summer days anymore. Later on, while eating the last snack of the flight, I found a fascinating TV program about orcas. (Man, I just can't figure out if I like orcas or sharks better. Both are awesome!) All of a sudden we could see the lights of Arusha dangling just below the wings, then the wheels bumped into the runway and I was in Africa for the very first time.

I was a bit concerned about going through customs since my work visa hadn't come through before I left. The ADRA director, Max Church, had told me to just buy a visitor visa when I got to the airport so I got in line for that and finally got to the front of the line half an hour later. The customs lady asked me why I was getting a visitor visa when I would be in the country for the next 270 days so I had to explain my situation. She just nodded and stamped my passport, only asking me to hand over $50 for the visa instead of the $100 that Max had told me it would cost. I was the third last person in line but, strangely, when I went to find my luggage, my two bags were the last two on the luggage carousel. I tugged them to the ground and went to find Max. He stepped up to me as soon as I walked through the door and asked if I was the person he was waiting for. Then he introduced me to Ashley, a volunteer from Washington state who is working at the Cradle of Love Baby Home that Max's wife runs. Max put my bags in the back and then all three of us squished into the front seat of the ADRA Land Cruiser (my first time riding in one of those. I felt kind of like I was in a book) for the half hour drive to Usa River.

When we got to the ADRA complex, Max showed me around the cottages.  There are four cottages in a circle. One is a common cottage with a living room/kitchen/laundry that all the volunteers can use. The other three cottages are split into two semi-circle rooms. Max found the key for Cottage 1 and showed me my room. As we went back for my bags another Land Cruiser pulled up. It was Max's wife with three other volunteers. They had come in on the same flight as me and are also going to be volunteering at Cradle of Love. I didn't get their names tonight, but hopefully I'll meet them tomorrow. Even though I'm not really tired, I figure I should at least try to get some sleep. I've only snoozed for about two hours since I woke up on Monday morning. Goodnight from Tanzania!