...but unfortunately my luggage is not joining me just yet.
The flight in was fine, up until my backpack failed to appear. I put in a claim, they gave me some money to buy some clothes (4500 roughly equivalent to $45). My pickup from i-to-i was starting to wonder, I think, but I got in the transport safely.
The hour drive to the Blue Seas Guesthouse was quite an adventure. The road is shared by pedestrians, bikes, scooters, motorcycles, tuk-tuks, farming tractors (one had 4 people on board), what looks like motorized plows, and of course cars and trucks. Very interesting, and at times gripping (as in my hands gripping the seat). They have no respect for lanes or lines, which makes it interesting. All in all it was a fun ride, and took my mind off my lost luggage. Later I found out that a girl who lost her luggage on Tues go it on Sat, so I need to be prepared to manage for a few days. They assured me they would deliver it down to where we are staying, but she did call this afternoon to check on my flight number, which isn't encouraging - I gave that to her this afternoon. Luckily it is almost all clothes in that bag, so I should be fine.
I checked in and got a pretty nice room with a balcony - cold showers (which was welcome) and the water from the shower drained onto the outside wall and eventually the street below... interesting. But the proprietor was nice enough to give me soap - a very good thing! And he was very sweet about the lost luggage.
We all did a little walking tour this afternoon, and then hung out at a nice hotel - the Mount Lavinia - where I bought some clothes for an exorbitant sum (for here) - $16 for 2 tshirts and a skirt.
In any case, there are about 30 of us going to 4 or 5 different projects. Tomorrow we do orientation together and then go to our respective areas. Tonight I need to stay up to help proactively get over jetlag (13 hour time difference) so I'm going out for a beer with the ones who have either been here a little while, or who like me want to try to adjust schedules.
Gotta go - and tomorrow we leave the capital city (which to me is a cross between Nairobi and Antananarivo Madagascar...) and head down the coast.
:)