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Recent Posts

Haydom

By Jacob
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Tuesday last week I flew out with another MAF pilot, Kirstein, to Haydom. Our schedule was full with flights out to even more remote villages, and we would not return back to Arusha until Friday. On one of the afternoons we needed to haul to the maximum capacity of the aircraft, and so I was left on the ground.  As I waited to catch a few pictures of Kirstein taking off to the villages, these two girls kept begging me to take a picture of them so they could see themselves. They were quite pleased, and a little shy, when I showed them my camera screen. After he was off, I began my hike to the large hill beside the town of Haydom. Having grown up in the mountains of Idaho, I miss the tranquility and peace of being in the wild. Being away from busy city life gives me time to think and process. I began to contemplate how different Tanzania is from the world I grew up in. For instance, it took me multiple visits to the Haydom airstrip before noticing the ridicu...
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A Trip to "Hobby Lobby"

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I needed to pick up a few items for my sewing projects, however, I was not having any success finding what I needed. After asking around I was told of a market that would likely have what I needed. Kariakoo. Not knowing much about this newfound market other than that it is big and in the general direction of downtown, I debated how to go about a trip to "Hobby Lobby". Feeling as if going solo on this expedition was not the best idea, I had been contemplating on who would come with me. It so happened that the day before I was to go I met a lady at a used clothing market while I was looking for the next size for the girls. She helped me find a few items that were tucked away in an obscure corner of the market, walked me through the back neighbourhood, and helped me to the bus stop before going home. In the process of talking, I asked her if she had any plans for the following day. As she did not, I asked if she would like to go with me to Kariakoo. She agreed and we sor...
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A Long Week

By Jacob
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I am lying here on the bed next to Carmen, Esther, and Tivoli. The day has started and it is getting hot outside. Fortunately, there is a breeze and we do not have a power outage so the fan can keep running. It seems we get our daily (or more) power outage which lasts anywhere from a few minutes to five hours. I don't think you realize how nice it is to have consistent, reliable power until you just don't. The boys are outside somewhere, and Dinah is cleaning the house. The sound of construction and the occasional horn or loud music overwhelms the sounds of bustling Dar Es Salaam. Earlier this week on Sunday afternoon we moved across the city to a two bedroom apartment making our commute to language training a leisurely five-minute walk. Since then, we have found a fridge, borrowed two couches, and bought mattresses to sleep on and mosquito nets. We are quickly learning our way around the city! Jason contracted a fever, stomach ache, and runny stool on Monday. Thou...
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All Four

By Jacob
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Esther (white) Tivoli (pink) Not so sure about this. She actually liked it. I guess when sucking on fingers is so important, trying someone else's is not a problem And of course, as soon as I pulled my camera out, the boys started vying for attention...
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