Maulid

I went to a gathering the other day in a village a couple hours away. I went on a road trip with all my Muslim peeps to celebrate Muhammad's birthday. It was great and as usual, since it was a giant event, they called me to the front and had me speak. Good times.

Here are some pics of the celebration and me in my muslim garb, doin' what I do best.







Cheers,
Jayce

Volleyballin'

So one of my community groups that I started is a volleyball team. I use the time to talk about the health, the importance of staying active and fit and above all play volleyball!

They started out very bad, hitting the ball over on the first try, every time. But now they are getting it down. I have such a great time playing with them. I think next wee need to work on uniforms. It's kinda tricky to run around in jeans and dress shoes. Though, I guess it does add a little somethin' extra. Here are 3 of pretty much the same picture. You get the idea...





Cheers,
Jayce

Family Photos

My buddy Issa's dad is 93 years old. That's unheard of for Tanzanians. He's not doing very well right now and a bunch of his kids are coming from around TZ to see him. Here are a couple pictures of Issa's family. I don't know why he is wrapped head to toe in a giant blanket, just got with it...





Cheers,
Jayce

We Be Clubbin'

When we go to Dar for seminars or meetings we usually stay with an ex-pat named Mark. I talked about him earlier, he's the same guy who got us into the New Years Eve party last year. There are no words to express the gratitude I feel for this guy. He is amazing (If you happen to read this Gammo, you're awesome.)

The last time we were in Dar Mark took me and Maureen out for a fish-fry dinner at the yacht club. It was amazing, they bring in all this great fish caught that day and grill it up right in front of you. For me the highlight was real Ketchup and mayonnaise. My bar is set pretty low when it comes to getting excited about food. Condiments...really?

Anyways here are 2 pics of us sitting on the ledge watching the sunset at dinner.




Cheers,
Jayce

Missing Mafia Pics

Internet was crappy the other day and I didn't get a chance to post pics from my event-filled Mafia trip. Some sunset pics and some snorkeling pics. Like I said before, I was really surprised at how 'Finding Nemo' everything was. The fish and colors and everything were amazing. You probably can't tell from the pics, but it was pretty cool. Here are the pics in all their glory...










Cheers,
Jayce

Kids

Nothing much new here. Who doesn't love pictures of African children? I sure do.

Here ya go...











Cheers,
Jayce

Open Sesame

The secondary school in my village just opened its doors to become an A-Level school. This means they added 2 more years to it. Pretty big deal, only the coolest villages have an A-Level school. To celebrate everyone went to the school and we had a big ceremony with a bunch of people from the government giving speeches and such. This was the first time I've been to a big event and they didn't call me to the front and make me give a big speech. Thank god. It was a lot of fun and I'm stoked that my students get a better opportunity for further education.

Anyways here's two pics of the action.




Cheers,
Jayce

Mnada Lot Goin' On

Once a month our village has a thing called "mnada." Its when people from the big city, Singida, bring in a bunch of tents and post up shop to sell their stuff. It's pretty much for villagers who can't make it into town that easily. Cessie says they sell beer at hers and its like a big day-party, but mine was kind of boring. Nothing special. Anyways here is a pic of the action in the field and also a pic of me helpin my buddy Madai put some of his harvest on his roof to dry. Good times!



Cheers,
Jayce

Videos

I sent all my pictures and videos home to my parents. Now hopefully we can finally get some video action on this blog. Here are some of my favorite videos from the past 11 months…

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Here is a video that my Canadian buddy Connor took on top of some mountains by my village. I try and head up here a couple times a month. Such an awesome place to chill, read a book and watch the sun rise or set...




Me, Connor and Cessie hitch a ride with some of her villagers out to the local well. To ‘chote’ means to fetch, ‘maji’ means water and the pump is called a ‘bomba.’...




Here’s a video of Cess and I pumping some water from her well. Of course we have to decide what kind of soundtrack we would want in the background. 80s anyone?...



Cess and Connor preparing one of my favorite meals, Ball Hash. Many Tanzanians carry around their cell phones in these little pouches around their neck, being the budding McGyvers that we are, we are able to create almost anything from scratch. We like to take advantage of all the resources available to us to make new products. Do I hear income-generating project?