28 September 2015

sharing is caring, right?

I was recently walking down the hill to our house, from buying groceries. I hadn’t brought quite enough plastic bags with me to hold all of the produce I wanted so I ended up carrying a bunch of bananas in my hand.

Big mistake. 


The five-minute walk back to the house seemed a lot longer, as strangers and neighbors alike shouted out to me, “Hey, you have a lot of bananas! Can I have one?” “Give me a banana!” “How come she has so many bananas?”

“Leave me alone!” I silently screamed. “These are my bananas!”

I can’t tell you how many times this has happened.

21 September 2015

when adventure loses its appeal.

Contrary to what we believed before we arrived in Tanzania, life here is really busy. Our work is not just a day job. It seeps outside of the normal 8-5 work schedule and occupies our thoughts and conversations on nights and weekends. Outside of that, we have commitments to our Maryknoll community, our neighborhood, and our friends, not to mention the labor that goes into taking care of a house and a dog in a developing country. 

we're just too dang busy.

You get the gist, so I don't need to say more.

With all of the work involved in day-to-day living, we try to stay true to serious relaxation time on a weekly basis. But what about when even that goes awry? When it seems really obvious that Tanzania/Africa/God/The Universe is telling you that your best laid plans shouldn't come to fruition?

14 September 2015

(tanzanian) kids say the darndest things.

When you were a kid, what were some of the pretend things you did with your friends? Or if you have children, how do they play with others and entertain themselves?

The other day Ashley and I had the neighborhood kids over to play in our yard. We brought out the usual fun things for them: Matchbox cars, coloring materials and some candy.


But this time something caught our attention: when it comes to play time, the imaginations of Tanzanian children go in a remarkably different direction than, say, American children. How so?

08 September 2015

life lessons on a bus in tanzania.

A white girl walked onto a bus in Tanzania and…

No, this isn't the opening line of a joke. This is yet another story from my life. Why do I always seems to have the best conversations on moving vehicles here in Mwanza?


In all seriousness, it's a great story and yet again, made me think about culture, specifically how we show warmth and friendliness to our fellow human beings.