23 February 2015

the story of a friendship: me and tanzania.

Let's just come out and say it: I don't love Tanzanian culture.



When you move abroad as a new expat, you can't help but speculate about what life will be like in your new country of residence. I, for one, wanted to love Tanzanian culture. I wanted to actually want to become Tanzanian.

And lo and behold, I don't love it. Now what?

16 February 2015

the trouble with time.

In the immortal words of Hootie & The Blowfish, "Time, why [do] you punish me?" Seriously though, the more I think about it, the more I realize that time is nothing but trouble.

I recently read the book The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and it resonated with many thoughts that I've been having lately. In fact, the concept of living in the present moment has been frequently on my mind since moving to Tanzania. Why is that?

In a conversation with Ashley over dinner, we both realized something. Before Tanzania (or B.T. as I'll call it), we almost always lived in the future. Of course we didn't actually live in the future, but our minds dwelled on it. But now that we are in Tanzania, that tendency towards the future is fading. What gives?


09 February 2015

ashley's got a new gig.

Before the last year was out, I mentioned briefly that I started a new job in Mwanza, called Lulu Project. I promised more to come in the new year and I’m fulfilling my end of the bargain.


Well, here it is! The three pillars of Lulu are cooperation (ushirikiano), self-confidence (uthubutu) and creativity (ubunifu). But what is it really about? And what is that hand holding? Keep reading to find out.

02 February 2015

how michael got his groove back.

I am not as strong as I thought I was.

Sure, I expected moving to a foreign country in the developing world, encountering an entirely different culture, and being surrounded by widespread abject poverty to be difficult, but I figured, "Hey, I got this. No problem."

Little did I know that doing so would stretch and push me to my limits, challenging not only how I see the world around me, but also how I see myself. And it has not been pretty.

At some point, probably in a moment of desperation while curled up in the fetal position on the floor in the corner of a dark room listening to Joni Mitchell, I said, "God, need a little help here."