Sorry folks, I must apologize for the brief hiatus from blog entry... internet acces in eastern and most of southern Africa is absolutely shite and you pay a small fortune for it! So we arrive in Dar-es-Salam at rush hour and i swear to all the gods, whomever and where ever they are, that if they get us through this town in less than 4 hours, i will never complain about traffic in Dublin ever again! To help the time pass, we pumped up the volume and conducted our very own dance party in the back of the truck- only a [View Full Entry]

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Had another incredible day yesterday that began at 7:00 with an impressive breakfast of mango, homemade bread, a fried biscuit of fish and potato, a tomato, and ndizi (bananas). Then off to Swahili class. The quick five minute walk from my house to our classroom is really nice and takes me through a beautiful part of Stone Town. I thought that I'd never learn how to navigate the notoriously random and haphazard street pattern but even after a couple days, I'm recognizing where I am fairly well. After two hours of Swahili, we grabbed our gear and walked to the beach [View Full Entry]

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Well, how do I put my life into words.... wow. Maybe first, a quick Swahili lesson. Hujambo! Vipi! Jina langu ni Yussuf. Ninatoka Mericani, jimbo la Maryland, mti wa Silver Spring. Ninasema Kiswahili polepole lakini jana nilijifunza kidogo na leo ninajifunza kidogo na kesho nitajifunza kidogo pia! Upesi, nitajau kiswahili vizuri. Ninatumaini kurudi Mericani, utasahau kwa mimi. Sisahau kwa wewe na nimefiriki kwa wawa siku zote. Nimefurahi lakini ninakosa kwa ninyi. Tutonana baadage. Salama! Hello! What's up. My name is Yussuf.* I am from America, in the state of Maryland, in [View Full Entry]

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Greetings all from Vienna! All is well here, the weather continues to be fairly mild and skies remain permanently misty and grey in the city. I am starting to really get into the swing of Viennese life, making friends and sampling the many fun things to do socially here. There's a great community of ex-pats to hang out with and I've started to develop a good circle of girlfriends - critical for enjoyment of life! I have recently returned from a work-related mission to Tanzania. I went to attend a conference and related meetings to do with PACT's work with the [View Full Entry]

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It’s not improbable that a few months down the line we will have failed to make it to Hong Kong for our intended flight to Sydney and will ask ourselves, “Where did it all go wrong?” Should this be the case, then it fair to say that the blame should be landed squarely at the door of Zanzibar. In visiting Zanzibar we committed two cardinal sins. Firstly, from Nairobi we travelled roughly five hundred miles in the wrong direction and secondly we stayed too long, far too long. However, we plead extenuating circumstances. Zanzibar is somewhere we have wanted to visit [View Full Entry]

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Contrary to what many of you may believe, I'm alive. It's been some of the most exhilerating, tiring, stressful, terrible, and wonderful three days of my life. Yesterday we had a "drop off" where we were dropped off in the middle of Stone Town, Zanzibar and given a list of things we needed to locate. So after only one Swahili class, we were forced into the most culturally uncomfortable situation that we've ever entered. Yet I can't even begin to tell you how incredible it was. After only minutes, you begin to understand something that was previous entirely foreign. From talking [View Full Entry]

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Ok I'm flying out tonight. Woah, now its real. I bought this week's Newsweek for my homestay family. Unsurprisingly, it has Prezy Obama's face on it. I figured he's popular over there and bringing a magazine with a couple pictures of him is the least I can do to represent America. I also purchased a colorful throw rug for them and art supplies for the kids, just some small gifts I can bring over there with me to give out. I'm 8 hours ahead of yall on the east coast, so if I ever get on skype, it'll probably be the [View Full Entry]

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Everything is set for me to leave for Tanzania and Zanzibar, I'll see yall again in May. Mostly, I'm hoping for this to be the place for me to share my travel pictures, silly stories, oddities, and info. Long stories and rants... eh, not so much. Just bookmark it, check back here periodically and maybe you'll get a new post if your lucky. Don't yet know how much communication I'll have with yall and I'm not hopeful. Obviously don't call me, my phone's off until may. Email or fb is good but I might not be able to respond to it [View Full Entry]

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I changed my ticket once more for a day full of monkeys, dolphins and a large hairy Iranian man... After I went to the port to change my ferry ticket I opted to do one of the classic tours of the island without booking a tour. I jumped on a dalla dalla headed in the right direction and looked forward to the rest of my day. About 20 minutes into the trip with about 15 more people crammed into the back of the dalla dalla, we all heard the engine clunk a few times and then putter out. All of [View Full Entry]

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ZANZIBAR.... it's ok, say it again- this time with a little more flare.... at the same time the name rolls off your tongue a certain mystique and wonder is aroused in the imagination. There has always been something alluring about Zanzibar- but no one can articulate it, you just have to be there to absorb the wonders it holds. It is easy to get lost in the narrow streets of Stone Town - Not only because it is like a maze with no order, but also behind every corner and bend is another hidden treasure. A beautiful 18th century door amongst [View Full Entry]

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