visiting local food markets in tanzania.

Whenever I read about traveling to some faraway, exotic land, travel writers always underscore the importance and fun of checking out the local food markets. Funny that I've been reading about this for awhile, until it suddenly dawned on me... "Hey, that's what we do almost every day!"

Now that we've been in Mwanza for almost ten months, visiting the local markets has gone from fun!-exciting!-let's go use our new language skills! back to "Um, is it my turn to go get groceries or yours?" Living is different than traveling, right?

But really, going to a local market is a great way to get a feel for the local culture. Here's what you can expect to experience in the market ten steps away from our door.

how to climb mount meru.

Check out this picture. 

Yes, that’s Mount Kilimanjaro in the distance! Last week, Michael and I climbed to the top of Mount Meru, the fifth highest mountain in Africa and the tenth highest in the world! As we would later find, this was no small feat. Although it was incredibly difficult to get to the top, it was a lovely vacation, full of nature, meeting both Tanzanians and ex-pats, and gaining some more perspective on this country we now call home.

measuring our environmental impact - electricity.

In late September, more than 300,000 people marched the streets of New York City in what organizers called the largest climate-change demonstration in history. Many folks from Maryknoll were present to showcase their support. This event coincided with the United Nations Climate Summit 2014, attended by 125 world leaders to discuss climate change.

Ashley and I have been talking for the past year about how the decisions we make should reflect our values. Well, we decided to not only talk about it amongst ourselves, but also to do something about it and share with others in the event that it may incite a similar response, or at least a critical reflection.

It is highly difficult to improve without defining what progress looks like and then measuring the impact. So in this post, I'll be looking at our environmental impact as it relates to electricity usage.

one doxycycline pill a day still does not keep the doctor away.

We’ve been sharing a lot of contemplative posts lately: how we feel about our faith, some of the awesome work Michael's doing, and what it feels like to not fit in, even in the expat community. But for today, I thought I’d take you through a “Day in the Life” post again, like I did when we were in language school.

Instead of going through one of our normal days, I’d like to take you through a “Sick Day.” These are the not-so-fun days.

Let the games begin!