Cariello

This is a post about a personal journey of deep introspection and reflection in which I searched long and hard for self improvement. Or perhaps more aptly named self-deprovement since I was looking for a suitable vice to adopt in Africa. I figured a vice would contribute nicely to my soon to be John Wayne persona. I had a vision in my mind that I would come back to the US in the likeness of a returning explorer, rugged and tough from an African lifestyle where grit grinds a man’s character into a keen and sometimes lethal edge. The image of the wandering cowboy with chew in his mouth and fire in his eyes. A slow walk into a dusty town is coupled with a fast draw. His gruff exterior still occasionally lets his kindness show ... read more

So the title of this blog post was supposed to be a reference to Harry Potter but I believe I butchered the reference unfortunately. Before I get into the meat of the cooking post I wanted to quickly note that everyone I’m staying with here are in their late twenties and never read the Harry Potter series. NEVER READ HARRY POTTER. I personally was shocked by this and at first thought they were definitely lying but I guess they were too old which is really rather sad. Anyhow what I really wanted to talk about is cooking and how I’m on my way to becoming an expert. I liken it to the young disciple who goes away for several months to the Tibetan highlands and when he returns he is wise beyond his years. That’s the ... read more

Sorry it has taken so long to get another few blog posts up. For a while I was out in the field and didn’t have access to internet and then after I returned to Nampula it turned out that the internet was down in the city as well so that didn’t really help the situation. Right now I’m able to connect with a Mcel stick but I won’t be able to upload photos. Anyway as usual these next blog posts are a bit disjointed as usual but that’s life I guess. For this post I want to talk about some random experiences that happened over the past two weeks. These are probably not the most interesting or exciting things that happened but rather what I happen to remember at the moment. Also the entire last two ... read more

This next post is a bit graphic so I apologize to your eyeballs in advance. Also there are no pictures for this post. About half way through the afternoon I realized that I could not escape the inevitable beckoning of small concrete structure near our house. I grabbed the necessary preparations from the trunk of the car and slowly trudged to the "building" like a man walking to death row. I took a deep breath before entering and assumed the position. Hello my old friend, we meet again. I am of course referring to the latrine. There was a hole in the concrete floor in a vaguely phallic shape and two foot imprints to indicate where the feet were supposed to go. I imagine this was to improve aim and while it appeared silly I certainly ... read more

It's hard to believe I've only been here for four full days. Somewhere between two days of travel, a winter that feels like summer, and adjusting to a different lifestyle I lost track of time. Landing in Johannesburg on Thursday night seemed like nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe because it was nighttime, or perhaps because Johannesburg is a well developed city, but I didn't feel like I was in an exotic location. The airport was modern, large and well organized. Bussing out to the small 24 seater plane in the morning was the first indication of a road less traveled. The flight wasn't long and as we descended into Nampula I was shocked by the scenery. Palm trees and dusty roads greeted my eyes but most impressive were the tall granite outcroppings that dotted the ... read more