The Trip Home

Sorry it's taken me so long to get my final post on here. It's been crazy since I've been home! My last days in Moshi were fun but sad. Friday night we went out to Glacier and had a few drinks and did some shaky shaky. Most of the guys showed up. Freddy and Abbas said goodbye to me earlier that day because they were heading out on safari. Hans and all the rest of the guys showed up for my last night in Moshi. We had such a good time. Melissa and I shared a bottle of Konyagi (local liquor that tastes like gin). After Glacier we took a cab to Kool Bar one last time. I was a little too tipsy to play pool so we all danced until we decided it was time for La Liga. By this time it was past midnight and by the time we got there I was so tired! Riley said Melissa and I ditched the boys right away and headed to the dance floor haha. We danced for awhile until we couldn't really keep our eyes open anymore. We took a cab home, Melissa and I munched on some popcorn and chocolate and then went to sleep. In the morning Kevin called-he got our puppy! He had just picked him up. He is now about 13 weeks old, he is a brindle boxer puppy and we named him Diesel. He's the perfect little puppy! This phone call made me sooooo excited to get home! I was not fully packed but was pretty hungover, so Mel and I slept for a couple more hours while the boys took the grill and the food across the street to Mzungu Bar to start the BBQ. Riley woke us up and told us the food was almost ready, so we headed over and had some hot dogs and burgers. I was still feeling a little rough but managed to eat a hot dog. After hanging out for awhile Mel and I headed back inside and she helped me finish packing. My bags were SO heavy! I had a lot of stuff that I bought for people back home, and my bags were pretty much full of souvenirs, I wasn't even brining that many clothes back. Riley was helping me take my bags to the cab and was like "Oh Dory, you're plane is definitely going down! What? Did you bring one of your children from school and pack them in here?!" So funny! I ended up taking a cab (of course Stanley, our wonderful cab driver and good rafiki ((friend)) offered to take me) to the airport since a couple other people were leaving for the airport a couple hours after me and Ibra was taking them in the van. Mel and Riley wanted to come with me, so we all loaded up and headed out after I said goodbye to the staff (was so sad!). It felt like the week before when we were heading to the airport with Stanley except going to Zanzibar. It felt so surreal, I just kept thinking that it was a joke or a dream and I would be heading back to CCS homebase to see all the staff and friends, not that I was actually leaving. It was so crazy, I just couldn't register it. It was really pretty on the way to the airport, we went through some rain but it was still sunny (my favorite!). It was such a perfect night, warm but not too hot. I was so sad to leave. I don't think it hit me until we actually got to the airport and I said goodbye to Stanley, Riley and Mel. We got one last Three Musketeers picture and then the tears came. It was so hard saying goodbye to Mel! We already have plans for her to visit over the 4th of July, and Kev and I are planning on going to her house for snowmobiling next winter. So excited! Everything at the airport went smoothly. It was sad getting on the airplane, seeing my last view of Kili and getting my last breath of Tanzania air, I'll miss it so much! My layover in Nairobi went well too, which I was so grateful for, because that airport is small, cramped, hot, and not very organized. Katelyn got stuck there for 14 hours on her way home! When I got to London the first thing I got was Starbucks, yum! Missed that a lot. I finished writing in my journal, read, and shopped (I had an 8 hour layover). I went to a chocolate store and the woman working helped me pick out some truffles for my Momma. They are pink champagne truffles and they are by appointment to the Queen. My mom liked them a lot. They also had a store called "World of Whiskies". Kev loves Whiskey so I went in and got him a pack of 3 small bottles to try, all aged differently. The layover went pretty quickly. There was a little scare when the fire alarm went off about an hour before my gate opened. I was so worried there was a fire that would result in delays, but luckily after shuffling all of us in the terminal around for about 20 minutes they cleared the area and my gate opened on time. The flight home was smooth, and I got through Customs without them having to look through all my souvenirs (would have taken so long!). Kevin met me in the parking lot (I told him not to come in because I didn't want him to have to leave the puppy in the car). It was soooo good to see him! I couldn't beleive how cute Diesel is, he's the best little puppy! It was weird driving over 40 mph, on paved roads, without speed bumps, on the right side instead of left side of the road. Even though it was super nice out it seemed so cold to me! So strange being home after being in such a different place for such a long time. In the past few days I've been adjusting back to home and to being a new puppy owner, trying to get everything with graduation and in the house worked out and organized. Kev had the house clean when I got home, which was so nice, but "Tornado Dory" as he calls it came in and there is stuff from Africa all over I'm trying to get organized and put away. We've already been talking about planning our trip to Tanzania, it'll probably take us a couple of years to save up, but I'm so happy Kevin wants to go back with me. I really miss the friends that I made and my kids, I think about them all the time. I miss the country so much, I can't wait to go back! Thanks to everyone for reading my blog! Hopefully sometime in the near future I'll be writing another one about my second trip to Tanzania!