After an unexpected extra week in Tanzania, courtesy of the volcano eruption in Iceland, Nick and my parents safely made it back to the US on Sunday. Hurray!
The unplanned trip extension topped off an African adventure that introduced them not only to the beautiful scenery, wildlife and beaches here, but also the logistical and planning challenges that can make everyday life here feel like a run through an obstacle course.
First KLM lost my mom’s bag.
When my family decided to come and visit me in Tanzania, I was euphoric, expectant and really excited. But I was also a little nervous, I’ll admit. This was their first major trip to the developing world and they were diving in for a two week stint. How was I going to guide them through it all? How to try to balance a great tourist experience with exposure to everyday life here? How to try to blend as a group of 4 wazungos?
So I was a tad bit nervous when I got to the airport to pick them up. But then I saw them inside the baggage claim, and nerves forgotten, started bobbing up and down like a 10 year old at Christmas waiting for them to come outside. Only they stayed inside. And kept walking back and forth between the baggage claim and KLM desk. Uh oh. A bag didn’t make it. Damn. Hope it’s Nick’s.
Two minutes later Nick walked out, gave me a huge hug, and announced, “Mom’s bag didn’t make it”. Double damn.
Mary’s catch-phrase for this trip was “go with the flow”. But as Mary herself will tell you, this was one glitch she hadn’t planned on. Not only had the bag not arrived, KLM had actually lost it, AND the bag contained important medicine she takes daily. Fast-forward through 3 days of frantically searching all over Tanzania for said lost medicine, with the grand finale being an utter and total meltdown (by nearly all parties – Nick was mostly kicking it eating a muffin during all of this) at the Dar es Salaam airport that can only be described as a story destined to become part of Bengtson-family-lore.
On the long, hot, cramped ride back to Morogoro (sans infamous bag), I was seriously considering just what the hell I had been thinking trying to organize a 2-week trip all over Tanzania, as well as trying to remember exactly how much alcohol I had at home. But as Nick wisely said later on, never underestimate the power of hitting rockbottom. And so it was.
After the fiasco at the airport, Mary bravely and maturely accepted that the bag and medicine might not make it and that it was time to move on. We got to Morogoro, opened several beers, and tried to focus on seeing my life in Morogoro and getting excited for the safari.
Two days later, and about 12 hours before we were scheduled to leave on our safari, the bag arrived. I have never been so happy to see a piece of luggage.
With appropriate shampoo, self-tanner, and medicine in hand Mary and the rest of us were ready to put the last week behind us and get ready to see some of Tanzania’s most beautiful sights – Ngorongoro and the Serengeti. We had an amazing week touring around with our affable guide Charlie and saw 23 different kinds of animals!
By the end of it the stress and chaos of the first part of the trip was long forgotten amid hugs, thank-you’s, and smiles over a great trip. I waved goodbye to them in Arusha as Charlie took them on to the airport.
That was about a half hour before we heard that a volcano had erupted.
Fast forward again through three days of trying any of the 17 different phone numbers KLM gave us that didn’t work (don’t even get me started on KLM’s customer service), trips to the airport in the US by my brother-in-law, generalized chaos at the airport in Arusha and roughly 16 hours on the bus making the roundtrip from Mogo back to Arusha. In the end, the 2 week trip was more like 3+, Russ, Mary and Nick had developed a sort of surrogate-family at the KIA Lodge (see post below), and I got a few extra days to spend with them.
The trip itself wasn’t always smooth, but it was memorable. And it was true to life here – a never ending pingpong between amazing and beautiful and frustrating and unpredictable.
Mom, Dad and Nick: thank you for coming thousands of miles to experience my life here; thank you for hanging in there through the ups and downs; thank you for coming to Tanzania.
(To see a few photos from the trip, check out the Picasa photostream at right. I'm also trying to get a couple of videos up, but so far the internet gods are not smiling on me).
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Live from the KIA Lodge Compound...
As I am sure everyone has heard, a volcano erupted in Iceland last week. Mass chaos has pretty much ensured around the world as thousands of people were stranded and everything from car manufacturers to flower exports ground to a halt.
Unfortunately my family was set to fly out last Friday evening. Perhaps even more unfortunately (or less, depending on how you look at it?), we had no idea that anything had happened until they arrived at Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) on Friday afternoon, and I was on the dala dala back to Moshi to catch a bus home to Morogoro.
So after a few days of frustration, confusion for everyone and a lot of time spent waiting on the phone or the airport to talk to someone, ANYONE, who had any idea, or at least had heard a good rumor, about what the hell was going on, I decided I needed to head back up to the north to spend sometime with my family during what was shaping up to be their unexpected third week in Africa.
When I walked into the KIA Lodge near Arusha, I found a beleaguered but generally in good spirits family, and a group of stranded travelers from around the world that had quickly formed a community of sorts - where people might not know your last name or speak your language, but they definitely knew if you'd gotten your flight rebooked or not. Mary of course knew everyone and quickly took me around to meet people, who it turned out already knew my name, where I lived, what I was doing in TZ AND that I was going to UNC next year...that sort of thing:)
As of today (Wednesday), my parents are booked on a flight home on Saturday and Nick is booked on a flight out on Monday. Since the airports just re-opened today, we're hoping that we'll be able to get him out earlier, since people are likely double or triple booked on flights. However, we've also heard that now they are re-booking people as late as May (!!), so he might be lucky to leave then!
But until then, we are here, going for a swim at the pool, taking in views of Kili, waiting for Happy Hour to start and in general trying to make the most of it. My family has definitely had more than their share of snafus on this trip (KLM lost my mom's bag...for a week...on the way here, but more about that later) and while the trip has had its tough moments, they've been amazing at facing the unexpected, rebounding, ordering another beer and finding the humor in all of this.
No matter what, it's been an amazing trip and wonderful to have them here...as well as keep them for a few extra days.
Unfortunately my family was set to fly out last Friday evening. Perhaps even more unfortunately (or less, depending on how you look at it?), we had no idea that anything had happened until they arrived at Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) on Friday afternoon, and I was on the dala dala back to Moshi to catch a bus home to Morogoro.
So after a few days of frustration, confusion for everyone and a lot of time spent waiting on the phone or the airport to talk to someone, ANYONE, who had any idea, or at least had heard a good rumor, about what the hell was going on, I decided I needed to head back up to the north to spend sometime with my family during what was shaping up to be their unexpected third week in Africa.
When I walked into the KIA Lodge near Arusha, I found a beleaguered but generally in good spirits family, and a group of stranded travelers from around the world that had quickly formed a community of sorts - where people might not know your last name or speak your language, but they definitely knew if you'd gotten your flight rebooked or not. Mary of course knew everyone and quickly took me around to meet people, who it turned out already knew my name, where I lived, what I was doing in TZ AND that I was going to UNC next year...that sort of thing:)
As of today (Wednesday), my parents are booked on a flight home on Saturday and Nick is booked on a flight out on Monday. Since the airports just re-opened today, we're hoping that we'll be able to get him out earlier, since people are likely double or triple booked on flights. However, we've also heard that now they are re-booking people as late as May (!!), so he might be lucky to leave then!
But until then, we are here, going for a swim at the pool, taking in views of Kili, waiting for Happy Hour to start and in general trying to make the most of it. My family has definitely had more than their share of snafus on this trip (KLM lost my mom's bag...for a week...on the way here, but more about that later) and while the trip has had its tough moments, they've been amazing at facing the unexpected, rebounding, ordering another beer and finding the humor in all of this.
No matter what, it's been an amazing trip and wonderful to have them here...as well as keep them for a few extra days.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
The Family Adventure Begins...
In approximately 25 hours I will be IN Dar es Salaam, AT the airport, PICKING UP MY FAMILY!!!
Nick is about to leave Portland and Mary and Russ leave Minneapolis in a few hours and then they will all meet, bleary eyed and having had too much free wine on the flight in Amsterdam tomorrow morning for a flight to Tanzania. And when they get off the plane, I will be there!
This is their first trip to Africa (Nick has been to Morocco) and I am so excited to see them and to get to experience Tanzania with them. I spent the day today cleaning, getting ready and baking (or course. bread, banana bread, cookies anyone?)
Yesterday I had an amazing day visiting a nearby national park with my friend Karen and her mom, who is visiting from Denmark. At one point I saw almost 30 giraffe's together!! (pictures forthcoming).
Did I mention it has been a good week? Really good.
Nick is about to leave Portland and Mary and Russ leave Minneapolis in a few hours and then they will all meet, bleary eyed and having had too much free wine on the flight in Amsterdam tomorrow morning for a flight to Tanzania. And when they get off the plane, I will be there!
This is their first trip to Africa (Nick has been to Morocco) and I am so excited to see them and to get to experience Tanzania with them. I spent the day today cleaning, getting ready and baking (or course. bread, banana bread, cookies anyone?)
Yesterday I had an amazing day visiting a nearby national park with my friend Karen and her mom, who is visiting from Denmark. At one point I saw almost 30 giraffe's together!! (pictures forthcoming).
Did I mention it has been a good week? Really good.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
This just in...
I GOT INTO HOPKINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just found out that I am off the wait list at Hopkins and that a letter offering me admission is on it's way!!
As many of you know, I was a bit disappointed getting wait listed there, so being accepted, regardless of where I end up going, feels like a huge amount of validation. No word on funding yet...I'll keep you posted!
I just found out that I am off the wait list at Hopkins and that a letter offering me admission is on it's way!!
As many of you know, I was a bit disappointed getting wait listed there, so being accepted, regardless of where I end up going, feels like a huge amount of validation. No word on funding yet...I'll keep you posted!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
New Photos!
I added some more photos to Picasa. Click on the Photo Stream (to the right) to check them out!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Why I believe in healthcare reform - A response
A friend of mine sent me an email in response to my post on healthcare reform, and I wanted to share some of her thoughts here:
Watching HCR pass is one of those moments that I will be able to say I know where I was and what I was doing when the House made that final vote and tears came to my eyes as I watched Stupak stand up and make the argument for HCR that I had been waiting for for months now; that if Republicans want to block this bill on an pro-life platform, then that defies logic, because this whole bill is pro-life in the sense that it is saving lives.--M.S.
As I watched President Obama sign the bill into law on Tuesday, I again teared as I thought about the people I know that are now going to be able to afford health care. While I can't say I think this law will fix everything, it puts us on the path to remembering that change can happen and that we can stand up and say that Americans believe health care is a right.
I can't say this whole debate hasn't frustrated the hell out of me. It has. The fear mongering that is occurring in our country right now and the anger that it has incited scares me for where this country is headed in an ultra-partisan climate. HCR became not about the basic right of health, but about two sides of the aisle.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Why I believe in healthcare reform
On Monday morning I was standing bleary eyed in the Paris Charles de Gualle airport waiting for a flight to Amsterdam (and then onto Dar es Salaam) when I heard my cell phone beep indicating I had a text message.
I opened the message and read something that, in a country with often strong anti-American sentiment, made me proud to be an American.
From Ameet: “Snap, healthcare bill passed!”
Living in Tanzania, it can be difficult to keep up with the international news, but the healthcare debate has been one thing I have tried to keep tabs on. Last fall Ameet used some of his precious time with a wifi connection to download Obama’s speech on healthcare (and then Andrew, Ameet and I all listened to it together); when I meet other Americans visiting TZ I routinely ask them about the status of the healthcare bill and I try to keep up with the news coverage on it.
So to hear that Congress had (FINALLY) passed a healthcare bill overwhelmed me, then and now, with a flood of emotions…excitement, pride and relief. Maybe it was the lack of sleep (been up since 5:30am) or being out of the country that made me feel nostalgic, but what I think really made this bill passing feel so personal was that my country, our country, had just taken the first critical step towards the realization that in the wealthiest country in the world, people should not die or suffer massive financial repercussions because they get sick.
Obviously access to healthcare is something I feel strongly about. And I admit that it tends to be the one political issue that I simply cannot fathom, much less understand, the opposing sides position on (socialized medicine?! What?! Have you BEEN to a socialist country?).
However, biases notwithstanding, healthcare reform matters to me for numerous reasons, but one of them is that although I’m from the richest country in the world, I live in one of the poorest. In Tanzania if someone gets sick with diarrhea they can die because there isn’t an IV to give them fluids; health centers don’t have rubber gloves, much less ambulances, operating rooms, or a surgeon (or actual doctor) within miles, and we don’t even know for sure how many women die in childbirth here (but we know it’s a lot).
But healthcare here is free.
While the healthcare system in Tanzania might not be the strongest, the fact that it is available to every person, I think says something about the value the country places on of trying to ensure good health: we may not have a lot, but we think it’s important for people to be healthy.
Up until last Tuesday, that wasn’t a promise the US necessarily made to its citizens. Even though we have more resources and access to care than any other place on earth, in the US if you could pay then you got coverage; if you couldn’t then you didn’t.
The commodification of peoples’ health, to the extent that we will allow someone to die or suffer massively to protect a company’s bottom line strikes me as unconscionable. There are enough people in this world that die for lack of healthcare services; people should not be allowed to die for lack of insurance coverage.
Healthcare reform in the US is a fight that’s been waged for literally decades, and while the bill signed into law on Tuesday is far from perfect, it’s a step. This is the first major social legislation passed in the United States since Medicare and it moves us in the direction of ensuring basic healthcare as a human right to all Americans.
Reading the news the last couple of days following when the bill was signed into law it’s incredibly disappointing to see that something like improving healthcare has incited such violence, and to my mind, lunacy. From my current vantage point in Africa, it seems that if a country like Tanzania can at least attempt to provide basic healthcare for its people, then we certainly ought to be able to do it in America. Peacefully and with some dignity.
I opened the message and read something that, in a country with often strong anti-American sentiment, made me proud to be an American.
From Ameet: “Snap, healthcare bill passed!”
Living in Tanzania, it can be difficult to keep up with the international news, but the healthcare debate has been one thing I have tried to keep tabs on. Last fall Ameet used some of his precious time with a wifi connection to download Obama’s speech on healthcare (and then Andrew, Ameet and I all listened to it together); when I meet other Americans visiting TZ I routinely ask them about the status of the healthcare bill and I try to keep up with the news coverage on it.
So to hear that Congress had (FINALLY) passed a healthcare bill overwhelmed me, then and now, with a flood of emotions…excitement, pride and relief. Maybe it was the lack of sleep (been up since 5:30am) or being out of the country that made me feel nostalgic, but what I think really made this bill passing feel so personal was that my country, our country, had just taken the first critical step towards the realization that in the wealthiest country in the world, people should not die or suffer massive financial repercussions because they get sick.
Obviously access to healthcare is something I feel strongly about. And I admit that it tends to be the one political issue that I simply cannot fathom, much less understand, the opposing sides position on (socialized medicine?! What?! Have you BEEN to a socialist country?).
However, biases notwithstanding, healthcare reform matters to me for numerous reasons, but one of them is that although I’m from the richest country in the world, I live in one of the poorest. In Tanzania if someone gets sick with diarrhea they can die because there isn’t an IV to give them fluids; health centers don’t have rubber gloves, much less ambulances, operating rooms, or a surgeon (or actual doctor) within miles, and we don’t even know for sure how many women die in childbirth here (but we know it’s a lot).
But healthcare here is free.
While the healthcare system in Tanzania might not be the strongest, the fact that it is available to every person, I think says something about the value the country places on of trying to ensure good health: we may not have a lot, but we think it’s important for people to be healthy.
Up until last Tuesday, that wasn’t a promise the US necessarily made to its citizens. Even though we have more resources and access to care than any other place on earth, in the US if you could pay then you got coverage; if you couldn’t then you didn’t.
The commodification of peoples’ health, to the extent that we will allow someone to die or suffer massively to protect a company’s bottom line strikes me as unconscionable. There are enough people in this world that die for lack of healthcare services; people should not be allowed to die for lack of insurance coverage.
Healthcare reform in the US is a fight that’s been waged for literally decades, and while the bill signed into law on Tuesday is far from perfect, it’s a step. This is the first major social legislation passed in the United States since Medicare and it moves us in the direction of ensuring basic healthcare as a human right to all Americans.
Reading the news the last couple of days following when the bill was signed into law it’s incredibly disappointing to see that something like improving healthcare has incited such violence, and to my mind, lunacy. From my current vantage point in Africa, it seems that if a country like Tanzania can at least attempt to provide basic healthcare for its people, then we certainly ought to be able to do it in America. Peacefully and with some dignity.
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