so its been awhile since i blogged. lets see... the rain started. and was going pretty well for a good week. and we havent seen it since then. people got all excited and started planting. and im nervous their crops are going to die. i havent planted yet because baba hasnt finished his farms yet. hes waiting for another rain so the ground softens up so the cows wont have to work as hard. i think im going to do corn again. and then focus on a vegetable garden. so by now i thought i would've had the book shelves for [View Full Entry]

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so after a few trying days, the solar indeed has been installed in the village. after numerous phone calls and hours in the dmo's (district medical officer) office we got it all under control. and best part is i didnt even make the trip to dar es salaam. it turns out the guy that had been helping me from solar aid was fired. so he wasnt really going to be helping me. and instead i talked to the operations manager who was really helpful and gave me a bunch of phone numbers/suggestions of people in dar and the rest of the [View Full Entry]

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being back in the village was great. i mean i was back less than a week but you know. duty calls. lets see. i got back in the village on tuesday (sunday the car broke down and monday the car was full). stephanie decided to come with me so that was nice to have a friend along for the ride. i got back to my house and it was a mess. i dont mean anybody broke in. just dust was everywhere. and yes, ruka the dog indeed was alive. but just barely. i think if i wouldve come back a couple [View Full Entry]

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so my stay in south africa is coming to an end. which is wonderful really. and i got the best possible news. the labs in tanzania apparently were at fault. and my reason for coming to south africa completely null and void. well not completely. bc if i wouldnt have come then i wouldnt have found out that im not sick. wonderful though. it was a very emotional week when all is said and done. i wasnt sure if i was going to be going back to tanzania. but now i am. and im elated. tomorrow ashley and i should be [View Full Entry]

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so here i am. its been awhile. msc (mid service conference) is over and done with. it was really cool to see what everyone has been up to in their villages and everything. talking about best practices and everything. to be honest this would have probably been a lot more beneficial a few months ago but it was really nice seeing everyone. and taking a break from the village. a bunch of us stayed at the beach out of dars busy crowded smelly city center. did all the usual things that dar has to offer. lebanese food. movies. indian food. ice [View Full Entry]

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so i spent about an hour updating my blog a couple days ago and then i got timed out or something from the server. so i got frustrated and left. but im back. to update again hopefully successfully this time around.. lets see. its been quite awhile. the newest of the news is that we have welcomed jayce and cessie into singida. cessie going to a brand new site in ihanja and jayce replacing pendo at ilongero. we had our meeting yesterday with the director and other important people. i had to chat and explain stuff to their village leaders. answer [View Full Entry]

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so this will probably be a pretty long entry. about mom and dads visit! pops has already gone back home. mom leaves tomorrow. lets see. lets start at the beginning... i met them in arusha in late may. i thought they were going to fly from dar to arusha. so when i found out they took a bus i was slightly surprised. i mean no better way to see the country/experience the near death bus rides. but they arrived safe and sound. we stayed at the impala hotel. it was amazing. fantastic. hot shower. our driver emmanuel rode the bus with [View Full Entry]

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so my parents are getting into dar today. then i will be meeting them in arusha tomorrow. we will be doing a safari in the serengetti/ngorogoro crater. then hitting the village for a bit. then zanzibar!! woo. anyways lets see. new stuff going on...last week i was proctoring form 1 and their terminal examinations. aka end of the semester exams. that was annoying. tanzanians or maybe its form one and theyre new, but they are the worst cheaters ever. it reminds me of my brother forging a signature, messing up, and using white out to cover his tracks. its that bad. [View Full Entry]

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the guy in charge of the health sector (nassoro) and the safety and security officer (salome) stopped by my site last saturday. that was nice. they got to look around. it was salomes first time and she said my village was beautiful. it is. but it worried me a little bit that our s and s officer had never come to my site to inspect my house. oh well. i also turned in my revised grant to them. so hopefully that will get passed through quickly. and they also went over the budget of my new grant. so thats helpful. also [View Full Entry]

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cinco de mayo...i am in town yet again. here to work on the grants. but of course my gmail doesnt want to open at the moment. we'll cross our fingers. lets see... saturday red (one of my original chickens) had an egg hatch. she laid around 7 or 8 and i took a couple to eat. and she had 5 left but the other 4 cracked/broke. i thought she was eating them. but my vet told me that there was a cat in the area coming and eating them and that it had come and ate 7 of their eggs. oh. [View Full Entry]

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