Something to satisfy the empty stomach

So I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep up the meeshloaf/meatloaf metaphors (sorry to ruin the surprise if you didn't pick up on the connection), but I'm hoping I'll have enough up my sleeve to last for the 27 month duration of my time volunteering in Tanzania. Plus, it entertains me to think about how much it might annoy some people after the initial "aww, I miss that Meesh and her wacky sense of humor" phase wears off.

First thing's first. I would like to take the space to acknowledge the well known Olympic Gold Medalist in speed skating, Joey Cheek....not for contributing all of his winnings to needy kids in Darfur, but for utilizing his creativity and knack for useless word combinations to come up with the term MEESHLOAF last summer while dining in the fine kitchen of 1453 Harvard Street...where dreams are made and then squandered due to excessive napping caused by the lack of light. I will miss that place. So yes, in July 2007, the word Meeshloaf was born, and despite all the other profound and remotely relevant titles I could have named my blog, I came back to this and decided it was the most appropriate fit for me...and for you, my avid readers I left behind. Plus, Meatloaf is just plain delicious, and also the singer of "Paradise By the Dashboard Light", a Santoro family favorite.

Cutting to the chase...it is 1:48am and in typical me fashion I am getting this blog up literally less than 5 hours before I need to check out of the hotel and begin the trek to Tanzania. For those of you who don't know or have short term memory loss, I am leaving the country to serve as a Health Education Peace Corps Volunteer in Tanzania for over two years. I don't really have the time at this moment to give you the textbook definition of what I'll be doing, but I promise to keep you updated as I'm doing it as frequently as possible.

Here's what I know:
1. I am currently sitting in a Holiday Inn lobby in Washington, DC where for the past two days I have gone to pre-departure training, which rekindled my love of ice breakers and impromptu group skits.
2. I have to check out at 5:30am and go to a government clinic to get some immunizations and start taking anti-malaria pills. The first thing that comes to mind when someone tells me they're shipping me off to a government clinic is pretty much a hatch scene from LOST, circa Claire's abduction by The Others in Season 2.
3. I fly out of Dulles at 3:30pm. We land in Frankfurt Wednesday morning deutsch time, then head to Zurich. From Zurich, we fly to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and arrive around 8pm.
4. My mailing address from June 11 until August 20 will be:
My name
P.O. Box 9123
Dar es Salaam
Tanzania

....aaaaand apparently it might actually get there. we will see what happens, but please be adventurous and try because I would love to receive actual written mail and do not want to have to write myself fake letters so that the other campers think I'm cool. (read: Danica from Wonder Years' character in the 1990 made for TV movie, Camp Cucamonga) http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Camp_Cucamonga/60035492

5. I will most likely not be able to get in touch for at least a week once I land, but i WILL be purchasing a cell phone so I'll be sure to put that number up once I have it. And you will have to call me, since it would most likely cost a small fortune for me to make an international call.

6. Once I land, myself and the 48 other people in my training class (we are all either health or environment trainees) head out to about 300Km outside of the big city of Dar es Salaam (henceforth shall be known as just Dar), to a district called Morogoro. We will stay at a hotel for 2 nights and get more shots and initial survival language training, until we go to the small town of Kilosa nearby and move in with our Host Families and new homes where we will be living for 10 weeks during Pre-Service Training (PST...does not mean pacific standard time, but that would be cool) So I will be living in Kilosa until August 20, at which point I will hopefully be sworn in as a volunteer and then assigned to the site where I will call home for 2 years.

7. I'm going to learn Swahili. Or Kiswahili. Or at least find out when I should say the Ki and when I can leave it out.

As you probably guessed, I'm feeling extremely excited but the slaphappiness is starting to simmer down as I realize my wake up call is for 4:40am, and it is now 2:15. I can't thank you all enough for the wonderful goodbyes and send-off parties. I appreciate all of your encouragement, advice, words of caution, and just plain old love that was heavily present along the east coast this past month. I'm really lucky to have friends and family that would put their livers and hearts through so much distress, just for the sake of a long farewell. It was truly inspiring.

The next serving of Meeshloaf (ha ha) might not be for a while, so grab a snack, check often and tell others, because at the dinner table of the world wide web, there's always an extra plate.