Blogs from Tanzania, Africa
May 23rd 2012
The 9th Season of Fema TV Talk Show wrapped up last week. To mark the occasion, we decided to have a "Wrap Party". It was last Saturday night at my house. The Wrap Party is a common occurence in North America... When a series is completed, the staff and crew that worked on the show get together to blow off some steam after working so hard. It is not a common thing here in Tanzania. That being said, I decided that we should throw a party for everyone who contributed to the show in one way or another. Working with Janet, the HR Manager, at Femina we created a menu for approximately 30 people. Tanzanians are meat lovers, so there would have to be plenty of that. We decided on chicken (more about the chickens later), ... read more
May 14th 2012
Last Tuesday Lisa and I had the amazing opportunity to sit in on a day long meeting between MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) and KMT (Kanisa la Mennonite Tanzania). It was a celebratory farewell for the current MCC representatives in Tanzania as well as the welcoming of the new representatives hosted in thanks by KMT. MCC and KMT have been partners for many years now and it was so interesting, in that Lisa and I are both looking at potentially working with MCC in the future, to see the interaction between the two and also the projects that were in the works as well as those that had been completed. We also got to see the opening of a water project that had been a long time in the works! So in all it was good day ... read more
May 13th 2012
I will keep this brief as it is difficult to type on an iPad. What a rush thisweekends has been. I have never hadw such long flights or layovers before, but it turned out to not be bad at all! I was picked up at the airport by two really nice Indian fellas. One by the names of pitamber, whom I met via couch surfing and his friend Rajesh. Rajesh is a pharmacist an. Pitamber is a traveling marketer. We drove through the crazy traffic of Dar Es salaam into morogoro (a 3 hour drive). The drive was fun, complete with conversation of India vs us customs, Swahili lessons, african music ands tusker, the local beer in tz. We will camp out here tomight and Continue On to Iringatomorrow. The hotel we are in is freaking ... read more
May 13th 2012
Last Mother's Day, I found out that I had been accepted to come to Tanzania for 2 years. I was in Ottawa at a training course for this trip. This year, I am in rain-drenched Dar es Salaam, experiencing things I never imagined. Next Mother's Day, I will still be here (or so I think) and I will have shared more stories and pictures with you. That is three Mother's Day in a row that I haven't been with mom on "her day"! As most of you know, mom and I have an amazing relationship. She warned me, when I was a child and driving her crazy, that she would be my best friend when I grew up. She didn't lie. My mom is something else. At her age (86), she stll drives her car, has ... read more
May 9th 2012
We are in our rainy season here in Tanzania. It runs from March to early June and this year, I am told, we are not getting as much rain as years before. That said, there is still an abundant of mosquitos... and where there are mosquitos, there are chances of malaria. Our friends at The World Health Organization tells us that malaria is "caused by a parasite called Plasmodium, which is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes. In the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect red blood cells. Symptoms of malaria include fever, headache, and vomiting, and usually appear between 10 and 15 days after the mosquito bite. If not treated, malaria can quickly become life-threatening by disrupting the blood supply to vital organs. In many parts of the world, ... read more
May 8th 2012
Well this has certainly taken a great deal longer than I had anticipated. With the lack of internet and busy on the mine sites, this has been quite the endeavor. It is not completely finished but it will have to suffice as it is long winded enough as it is. This was written over a long span of time so please forgive any improper date references etc etc as I just want to post this. Your best best is to look at my flickr page Unfortunately my life has been too eventful over the past several months to find much time to update my blog, so thank you for your patience. Here is a brief update about any new developments in my life: 1) I have accepted a job with Golder Associates as a Hydrogeologist and ... read more
May 7th 2012
It’s been about a week and a half since we arrived here in Dar and so much has been experienced so far. Since we got here a couple days before our professor and all the other students, we had a lot to figure out on our own. Finding the cheapest place to buy food, finding what food to buy, how to go about taking the various forms of transportation (the hectic three-wheel ‘bajaj’ being our favorite so far), and how much each of those forms cost are just a few of the many things facing us those first few days. The place we are staying at is an actual house on the grounds of a Catholic guesthouse. Father Aloysius, along with the various brothers and sisters, run the place, and they are so wonderful. They serve ... read more
We're living in the 21th century....
Published: May 7th 2012Africa » Tanzania » East » Dar es SalaamMay 5th 2012
Here is a quick little story for you: Levi and I were driving out in a rural area in the bush with a pastor from MCC and his five kids, all 8 of us crammed into a suburban car. His kids speak some english, and one of them, 8-year-old Jared, all of a sudden asked me for my email address. So I wrote it down, and he wrote down his for me. He specifically stated that his was 'yahoo,' and seemed really proud of it. When he noticed mine was a gmail address, he said, "I tried to make a gmail account once, but for some reason it didn't work." I couldn't believe I was sitting in this car filled with kids, driving down a rural bumpy road, and talking to an 8 -year-old african boy ... read more
April 21st 2012
Safari Hi everyone. It is now the 14th of April and Jeannie and I have just returned after a two week Easter Break where we spent one day flying to Ruaha National Park and one week driving through northern Tanzania visiting Tarangire National Park, Ngorongoro Crater and Mt. Kilimanjaro in Moshi. We travelled with two other expats from Dodoma and although a little tiring from all the driving on some very rough roads the trip was wonderful. It is amazing how our little Rav4 is holding up on these rough African roads. Before we set out by car, our first trip was by air in a 6-seater Cessna with our friend Andrew from MAF at the helm, to Ruaha National Reserve for a one-day safari to see the magnificent countryside from a different perspective ... read more
April 16th 2012
Inside Dar es Salaam International Airport I came across the most convoluted visa-on-arrival system I had ever come across. First of all I had to fill in a couple of lengthy forms, repeating information the whole time and while I did this, a young man waited by my side. He looked lost and confused and so I asked him what he wanted but he only nodded. Ignoring him I filled in my forms and after I’d finished he passed me his passport and his forms. And I’d been thinking he only wanted to borrow my pen. Ten minutes later I had filled everything in for him but was then tapped on the shoulder by a woman. She too proffered her passport and forms, but I shook my head and headed towards the Place of Torment. There ... read more
