Mambo from Dar!

Hello All! We arrived early Friday morning at 7:25 am and since then have very much enjoyed our stay in Dar. Our friend, Penny, picked us up from the airport and has helped tremendously as she is fluent in the local language, Swahili. Haley and I know about 5-10 words each, so we are catching on! Penny is a sorority mate of mine from WU and has a house in Dar after living in the bush studying wildebeests for a year on a research project- she and Haley have LOTS to talk about!! The temperature here is 34 Celsius or, 98 F, with 80 % humidity. The first day we were here, it just started raining, well, pouring compared to Oregon. However, being 3:00pm in the afternoon,we were sleeping, due to to 11 hour time difference.
It is close to paradise here on the coast. The beaches are amazing- clear blue water, white sandy beaches and a cool breeze to take the edge off the heat, with a frosty drink in hand for a dollar each (no tip!) brought right to your beach lounges.
Because of immigration and Ministry of Education laws, it will take about a week or more to get our certification to teach in the village, which we know will be a little different than the relaxing city we are currently enjoying. Till then, Kwa heri! Pictures to come in the near future!
Ashley & Haley

January 19th- London

Today was full of a lot of walking. We've learned that Londoners are very good at manuevering around their prideful city just walking. We left our friend, Fiona's, flat after catching up on some sleep after the 10 1/2 hour flight, at 11am from Vauxhall, which is southeast of of the River Thames. We walked along the river past the numerous art galleries (Saatchi & the Tate Modern), past The Globe, a reanacted building of the stage Shakespeare's plays took place, up to the Tower Bridge (London Bridge) and across to the London Tower. We then walked through Trafalgar Square adorned with fountains and statues and up to the National Gallery, which houses some of the most priceless pieces of art in the world! The joke is that English galleries house some of the most precious pieces of historical art, sculpture and monumental discoveries ever (of things not found actually IN England), and where those precious pieces were found in the other parts of the world, there are signs saying " was discovered here in 1972. This is a replica. The actual is located at England's National Gallery in London." We then headed to Buckingham Palace and on home- about a 6 mile jaunt! We are a bit tired and heading to bed early, but not before dinner at Fiona's favorite Turkish restaurant, Tas.