Blogs from Des Moines, Iowa, United States, North America

Initially, I was very excited that I would be leaving school two days early, thus extending my thanksgiving break. When I heard my family would be driving through the midwest to go see my cousins in Iowa, I was a little less excited. I decided, though, that I wouldn’t ruin my trip even before it started. I was sure there had to be things to do in the Midwest. My parents picked me up from school on Friday, November 16 at about 7 pm. There wasn’t much more to do than driving that night. So, we drove west as far as we could before we got tired. This ended up happening at about 1 am, five hours after we had left. We had arrived in a town on the westernmost end of Pennsylvania, less than an ... read more

Description provided by Habitat for Humanity: Malawi is a country of immense beauty, yet also of extreme poverty. The country is rated as one of the least developed countries in the world. 90 percent of its population lives in rural areas. The economy is predominately agricultural and is dependent on substantial international assistance. Because of the widespread poverty, four out of five families live in substandard homes, with little hope of ever being able to afford a decent house. A typical village hut is built of mud and daub with a dirt floor and thatched roof and requires frequent repair. The conditions put families at high risk of all kinds of diseases, with leaky roofs making the house damp and mud floors attracting insects. The number of orphans and vulnerable children in Malawi has increased from ... read more

Our most recent trip away was a short one, just an over-nighter to the rather forgettable town of Des Moines (pronounced Damoyne, or the way we say it, Dez Mwar-nez). Des Moines is a touch over three hours to the North East of Leavenworth, and the only reason that took us there was a game of football. Not long after we arrived in Kansas I signed up to play for the Kansas City Power, our local AFL club. I made it down to the first training session of the year, which consisted of a full length game practice match. Shortly afterwards I decided that training was too much effort and decided that I would play without training (bad idea, but more on that later…..). It was bloody fantastic to see our great game being played in ... read more

When everything was settled with the Austrian college for us to spend the next four months there, our paperwork and visas intact, our tickets bought, we were just waiting to fly out and leave the US on what we pictured to be a crazy Euro trip. Not that the US or our city was bad or anything, but it was the hunger for something new and unknown. Something exciting. After we finished our exams and were out for Christmas and other Holidays, the University didn’t resume classes until mid to end of January. We were to leave in February, so I had a chance to participate in my one and only hazing initiation week, me being on the other side and being the hazer, not the hazee. Although I didn’t mind going through it my freshman ... read more

Many museums have an SR-71 on display, but few display it quite like this. As you enter the museum on the second floor balcony this plane is starring you right in the face, supported by three pillars from the first floor. Of all the SR-71s on display, this is probably the easiest one to photograph. Then you walk in to the main hanger and there is a B-17 next to a B-52, behind them is a B-36 Plus a dozen other planes. The only problem is that the planes are so tightly packed in this hanger it's difficult to get a good picture of them. After the museum I headed towards Omaha and stopped for an early dinner at a DDD restaurant. Joe Tess Place was on an episode called Long Time Legends. He is ... read more