Steve and Barnabas in Tanzania

First I thought I would bring up a story I told everyone last June about Kindness and how difficult it was to wake her up on the bus ride home.  I really wish I had a video of the teachers trying to wake her up after she fell asleep in the debate class Thursday afternoon.  It was the best laugh I have had in a while.  They finally got her up after about 20 minutes of work. Yes I missed putting out a blog last week because I was traveling for my required leave the country every 90 days trip.  Once again I went to Nairobi for a couple of days and then returned.  I did spend a couple of days in Arusha along the way to reconnect with some friends and do some food shopping.  Arusha used to be a great place to get some food that is like what I get at home but when Nakumatt closed up all that was over.  Now they have two new supermarket type stores open in Arusha (one in the old Nakumatt building).  They both have some items I really want to add ...

I have mentioned in blogs before about how at times it is difficult to write a specific blog or topic but never more so than this one.  It was not my best trip home.  I got some type of cold early on and it stayed with me the whole time making me a weak the entire trip.  America is in its most fragile state I remember with everyone living on headlines and soundbites and not actual truths and stories and that applies to both sides of the aisles.  The country has become one of believe as I do or you must be evil again on both sides of the political aisles. The problems with the cell service getting cut off.  There was also a problem of a personal nature that I will not go into detail on to protect others but it did cause me great grief  and emotional pain. So how do I write a blog about my time at home with those things constantly coming to the forefront of my mind.  I am going to focus on the positive things that happened while I was home.  The...

This last month has been busy, exciting, sometimes overwhelming and once again a beautiful reminder of the blessings I have in my life not only from the perspective of what is available to me in the states but also the love of those who support and believe in me. Let me start with some of the reverse culture shock then I will talk more about the wonderful things that happened during my trip home. I have been well prepared for the life I led in Tanzania because I believe myself to be very adaptable.  One of the best things to come out of my military training is the ability to accept conditions as what they are and deal with them.  With that said there were some definite changes in how I saw life when I came home to visit for the holidays and renew my visa.  First-at no time have I ever set in my parents house and asked for a blanket to cover me unless I was deathly sick but time and again after living in Tanzania temperatures I asked for a blanket when not active and I...

One of the many questions I was asked before coming here is what will you eat.  So I thought I would like to share a little about what I have been eating here, but please understand this is what I am eating at William and Martha's house and around town in Arusha, it may change some later and I will let you in on that if it happens. For Breakfast I have a variety of meals that include scrambled eggs, breakfast sausages, a piece of bread with jam, or porridge.  Scrambled eggs and the bread with jam is pretty much what you expect.  But the breakfast sausage is actually just a hot dog wiener and the porridge is difficult to explain.  It is somewhat like cream of wheat but just a little.  It is much more fine ground and I believe it is made of corn or maize flour.  It is normally served very runny and allowed to thicken as you eat it.  There is very little actual taste or texture to the meal itself and it is dark in color unlike cream of wheat.  Like...