A New Year

So I'll be in 2010 8 hours before the rest of you so I'll be sure to let you know if its going to be good or bad, I hope everyone had a wicked awesome Christmas, it was insanity on a stick over here but we'er starting to calm down, anyways I do not have much time just wanted to Wish everyone a Happy New Year, heres hoping its one filled with adventure and good times with loved ones! God bless

On the Fourth day of Christmas

Okay so haven't been super great at posting as often as I should but! I went reading some other blogs and most people blog less often then me and put about half the info or excitement into their blogs so be happy, and cut me some Christmas slack :P

So Christmas is just about ready to rear-end us all (I say that cause no matter now much you've planned or prepared it always seems to slam into you, like BAAAAM ITS CHRISTMAS, and your like what the heck just hit me?) At least thats how its feels to me, I have to keep reminding myself that Christmas is close because theres no snow or cold to remind me or make it feel like a Canadian Christmas but thats alright. Theres tons of work around here tho to keep me busy thinking about the time of year, you think shopping for your family and friends is bad....try 130+ orphans, you think the market is crowded try mine! At least you have a A&W's you can eat at or a Starbucks for those of you who like indie rock settings and overpriced coffee :P

Not going to lie, I've been having a heard time getting into the Christmas Spirit over here, it seems impossiable at times to keep positive when you see all those around you with less or have been dealt a crap hand. I mean even now I'm typing to you on a computer that could keep a family going for a year, yet the joy that these people have during this time of year, thinking about the Saviour, coming together to share a meal, that gives me hope. I mean I still miss home and all of you, but as long as I hold your warm wishes in my heart and your families in my prayers thats enough for me to almost be home even if only in spirit. We got a few Christmas presents, one was yesterday when a GAINT Coca-Cola Truck pulled in with African Santa doing the robot while holding a coke bottle to deliever some gifts for the kids and a donation of food for the Orphanage which got all the kids dancing (even one of the little babys started doing the bum shake) I have a few videos on it that you can all see when I get back, I'd upload them but once again MB's=$$$.

However this blog isn't about Dancing Santa tho he was pretty awesome and all, its about the 4 gifts that came a few days before, four beautiful new babies came to us, three boys and 1 girl, all no more then few weeks old, all innoccent and wide eyed. These four babies reminded me about the reason we have such joy not just this year but all year around, we are blessed to have them come to our Orphanage, and them getting to come to our Orphanage is really the best place for them to be in all of Tanzania as far as Orphanages go. None of them had names, so Bibi (Grandmother) named them all...well all but one. She let me pick the name one of the children who came, and as long as it would work in Tanzania that would become the child's name. So after some time and some rejected names Tyler was decided, but I call him Ty and he's the runt of them all but he's so cute and boy can get drink a lot of milk! Anyways my battary is dying so I can't make this much longer but all the new children and healthy and doing great! I can't wait to get home and show you all the pictures, but until then stay safe and God bless!

Christmas Time

Hey Canada and Company (seriousy never have any idea how to start theses things)

Its that time of year again, Christmas time, a time of year where love and joy fill the air, goodwill is shared and we come that much closer to peace for at least a month! Normally this time of year I'd be at my church 24/7 helping with set up for the billion things that happen at a church doing this time of year, but this year I'm at Starehe (Orphanage) 24/7 getting ready for the big day for the kids! All of them are excited and so are the staff its just a great time of year, we also have a few of our volunteers hanging around for the big day, most are from Germany so this will be their first snowless winter as it will also be mine!

Not going to lie but I really love snow and not having it makes it hard to remember its December, I mean the weather is always hot here Christmas with Palm trees, the only reason I remembered we're getting close to christmas is because one of the very well off locals had a Christmas party and it was beyond anything I've every gone to, I mean in Mwanza you REALLY see the differents between the rich and poor, and this guy was not poor in the least, I've never seen so many christmas lights and what not, almost felt like I was at a Christmas party in Hollywood. It was a blast going out for an evening, it doesn't happen a whole lot here but still. A lot of the time I was there it made me think about how many times during this year in past years I've only been thinking about my bubble of people, people who I love, people who I like, and people who I have to pretend I like for at least a month, this year its different I mean don't get me wrong I'm REALLY thinking about people I love, people I miss, but mostly I've been thinking about people who could use a little grace, or a helping hand.

Can't really explain it all but Christmas will be amazing and horrid all at the same time this year as I come face to face with the fact that I need those people in my life who use to "just always be there" more then they or I could have possiably known, and that for most people here Christmas is just another day to try and make it... So this year before you get into the fuss of what to buy for who or if you'll get that gift in the right colour or who you can regift last years stuff to, or anything that normally might take over your mind train, take a moment to pray for those who have less, for those who are alone this Christmas and thank God for His goodness to you!

I miss you all, no matter what level our friendships may be at I will be thinking of you all and thanking God for your friendship as they are one of His great blessings in my life. So until next blog (there will be more this month) Be blessed and deck those halls in my place! and then send me pictures hahahaha

Let it Snow!

Hey party people and the people who may not be party people but somehow alway end up at a party and then get stuck with cleaning up when they didn't even want to go in the first place but their friend Julian bagged them to come so that they wouldn't be going alone and now your really mad cause...okay I guess thats a long enough intro.

So sorry about Nov it was "No Shave November" and it somehow also turn into "No Post November" I've been busy, and normally I would feel bad about not posting but you guys haven't been sending emails so meh :P. JK JK I've just been busy with Christmas at the Orphange we hve to start planning in like Sept just to be ready on time, its INSANE!!! but great, the kids are looking forward to the big 25th like any other kid around the world the only difference between here and back home is that its like 35 degrees and I'm getting a sunburn and your all not :D:D:D:D:D So its the third of Dec and I have sooo many stories from November but its almost mid night here and eariler this week (for those of you who haven't been keeping in touch) I did three all nighters (I post a nice long blog on that later as well) and have worked some very hard days so I need sleeeeeeep but I wanted to let you all know the Kids are doing great and "I'm not dead yet" ttyl God bless

"I feel happy, I feel....."

The Market Place

Yes the market, one of Mwanza's most interesting places to say the lest. Now there are many kinds of markets, there are fish markets, food markets and yes even the famous "black market" in which you can uptain illegel goods (I don't go there for many reasons, 1. scary, 2. to find it you need to have like scars all over you) okay maybe not scars but you have to be braver then I. Anyways I'm here to talk about the other 2 markets in which I spend a fair deal of time wheeling and dealing for good food prices for the Orphanage. Some interesting always happens down in the Market, mainly because I don't know much Kiswahili, but I do have a sidekick who comes and helps with that problem named Joe. Joe's awesome, nice guy, good friend, and speaks both english and Kiswahili! We normally go to the market at least once a week, and my luck is when Joe goes to pick some stuff up, people come up and start talking to me, one guy came up and started doing the crane kick move from the karate kid, it was really funny cause I think he was trying to scare me but he was about as steady as a drunk on St. Patricks day.

Now I could write tons on my encounters with the many many strange people who have come up to me in the market but we'll talk about the market itself in this blog. The food market is overflowing with people, and I mean overflowing, its like that sense in the Matrix where Neo is walking down the street and everyone keeps pushing into Him. Anyways you can find just about anything in the food market, pototos, peanuts, little fish called Dagaa, carrots, pots and pans, chairs, knifes, bananas etc...seriously just about any food product that you can think of and products for cooking that food.

The part about the market I love is that there are some many people selling the same stuff so close you can really bargin, if you don't want to pay 1000 shillini for beans you just turn around to the guy behind you and buy from him for 900, or 800 shillini. The only problem with being a Mazungo as they call all white people is that in the market your everybodies Rafiki (friend) (if only they knew I'm broke) so when I first started going down there and wanted to buy something I would hide and send my friend Joe first (Joe is a local), he would bargin down to a good price then I would show up :), the person normally would try and raise the price once seeing me but if they had agreed on a price it was a done deal.

Now that I've been here a few months (about half a year) the people know that I'm not a tourist anymore and that I know the prices the locals pay so, I can go and bargin by myself now. The one major problem I have with the Market (besides the pickpockets) is the smell, its all the rotton food and waste of everything all at once the only thing worse then smelling it, is getting use to the smell :P.

Now theres also the Fish Market which is a whole nother story, very very strong smell of dead fish, but I'm from NS so I'm very use to this smell and it doesn't bother me as much as it would most, nor does the sight of fish guts flying all over the place or the odd fish head rolling over my feet, when it comes to buying the fish its something stright out of a disney movie, people stand in a circle around the fish and point at the ones they want and shout out how much they are willing to pay for it. If two people point at the same bundle of fish it becomes a bidding war and gets REALLY loud. Anyways thats the Market Places, if I ever go to the black market I'll post on it, even if it means the FBI would come after me! So until next time God bless!

1000km and still kickin!

Hey people who read this!

I have finally gotten 1000km on my bike and I am still very much alive (with the way people drive here thats a blessing in itself) Here in Africa there is a food chain when it comes to the road, it goes like this from smallest to biggest; person, bike, motorcycle, small car, SUV, Dolla-Dolla, and Tour bus beats them all! They have a saying here called "African time" which pretty much means that they move slow as grass growing but they cross the street at the speed of light.

Now people here have road rules, in fact they are almost the same as canada's but its like not smoking at a bus stop, nobody enforces it, so most of the time you'll see people doing 120 in a school zone. Now me driving on the road is dangerous for 2 reasons, 1. I have a bike and that means I'm low on the road foodchain, and 2. Nobody likes bike drivers here, and if your a white bike driver its even worse. In total I have been run off the road 12 times, almost hit 4 times, been cut off more times then I could count, had someone try and play chicken with me, and yet still I am alive. I tell you my angel is working over time! I will never complain about the speed limits ever ever ever ever ever again, I mean after your passing a coke truck (coca cola not the other coke) and a tour bus come out of nowhere and skims by you, you learn to love rules of the road.

Just so most people know I might become a stunt driver when I get home, I mean my nerves have become steel driving here. A couple of things to keep in mind if you ever find yourself in Tanzania driving, 1. keep one foot over the brakes at all time (most peoples brake lights are broken) 2. If you think the car is far enough back that you can pass the guy in front of you, don't pass chances are that guy on the other side is doing 140 3. Tour buses don't believe in sides of the road, so if you see one coming on your side, remember tour buses beats EVERYTHING and they know it! driving on the dirt is better then being under it 4. If your going to cross the street at a busy intersection do so when all the Tanzania people are, this will not only keep you safe, but it also makes for a great picture. 5. Dolla Dolla's don't believe in turning lights so remember rule 1, and finally 6. If you can't follow any of the rules up above, drive with someone from Tanzania (by that I mean let them drive) cause they drive crazy but they know how to do it in a way that won't kill you!

Well thats all for now I hope you all learned something today oh one more thing, only the person driving has to wear a seatbelt but after being here you'll learn to love yours like Jesus loves us all! So until next time ttyl God bless and please drive safe :)

I'm more into eyes myself

Hello homedogs, homefrys, homies, and hometown people!

I'm nearing the half way point, almost been here for 6 months now, hard to believe, it really has gone by faster then expected, but insanity will do that. There have been lots of things going on here in Tanzania, both good and not so good, however I really only like talking about the good things. One of the best is that people do remember the orphans in this Countary, we often get donations of food from the towns people, or just people wanting to give, it has been something as small as a couple of muffins, to as much as 2 weeks worth of cooking fat (remember we've got a lot of orphans here so thats really something) and no matter how big or small you can tell its coming from these peoples hearts, the way they talk, the way they smile, these people care about the kids.

Now I had seen a lot of different things come our way sense starting out here, pineapples, bananas, cooking oil, cooking fat, rice, beans, etc... but nothing prepared me for what came yesterday. Got to the orphanage ready to go thought the motions of the day (yes things become routine here as well as home) and outside the door someone had dropped off a cow leg and hip, and I don't mean like neatly cut up meat, I mean like the LEG AND HIP hoof and a lot of fur still attached and all; from the looks of things it was a FAT COW. So its part of my job to recieve things and get they put where they are needed to be, only problem is I couldn't fit this in the freezer the way it was. So I took a page out of my grandfathers book got a saw cleaned the blade and had at it. It went well till I got to the fat which was exteremly hard to cut, so the kids gave me a hand by getting some axes and we took it from there. once we got it in the freezer, I smelt something I hadn't smelt in a long time, and that was that new car smell. Took me about 5 mintues to realize that it was the Kids and I. (I hate the smell myself, and my hands still smell like it even now.)

So thats about all for now, I personally never was a leg guy myself, plus seeing the hip bone and hoof of a cut off leg has kind of taken my desire for beef away for the moment. However it will come back, and everyone who reads this but doesn't send me an email owes me a burger when I get back! Anyways ttyl God bless

Of Hedgehogs and Monkeys

Hey party people, and not party people, and people who find themselfs stuck between those partying peoples and the ones who are just reading books :P it has been a while I know but you are at my bloggin mercy so MAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I know that was overkill but meh, So I know I told some of you about my pet hedgehog sonic, which I saved from the kids (They like to beat things with sticks) anyways Sonic is now running free in the wild and very very well (I know your thinking my name for him wasn't at all uniqe, but when you find your own African Pigmey hedgehog you can name it whatever you like) gotten a couple of birds falling out of the tress here to, so the kids bring them to me to put them back when it happens, which is nice and all but some of the trees here are beyond tall, and I have a minor fear of falling (not hights tho that would be funny, being 6'4" and all) and its always humming birds never anything cool like a Kite (type of bird, think Hawk but bigger)

The newest animal on the list is...the monkey...yes I had a monkey in my arms for about 10 mins, the kids found it in a tree and somehow managed to catch the thing AND get a belt around it. Now I'm all for having a pet monkey but they can carry some pretty wicked sickness in their cute little selfs so we had to let it go, however the kids tried to stop me everystep of the way. Now monkeys are cute but they will become violent when they are cornered and its loud, and having a monkey around, the kids began to crowd it and scream in excitement. In the end I was able to get the monkey and cut off the belt they put around him, and once I got him away from the kids, he just let me hold him until I could take him outside the Orphanage.

Sometimes I feel like that monkey, belt keeping me stuck to one place, all I can go is where it will let me, having people crowd me that I can't understand a word of what their saying, and yes sometimes wishing I could just climb up the nearest tree and hide when Africa becomes crazy. It doesn't help when the little ones call me Monkey cause they can't get Mikey. But thats just africa, sometimes it can drive you bananas and sometimes it can be amazing!

Anyways next blog will be very soon, have a lot to write about this week, including the MARKET PLACE!!! total insanity! so until next time God bless and remember monkeys are our friends, not our grandparents!

Pizza and Ice Cream

Hey everyone, its that time of year again, THANKSGIVING!!!!!! come on tell me your not excited to eat that stuffing and turkey and all the leftovers for the next week and I'll tell you, your a lier! We don't get turkey over here, well not unless you want to raise it yourself, but the turkeys here are more aggressive then the other wildlife, seriously I never thought I'd get out of a turkeys path before :). That being said I'm not upset about the lack of turkey and all that stuff, cause I get to eat in the first place, and after being here that in and of itself is a huge thing to be thankful for.

I'm thankful that my family is all well and safe, I'm thankful that my friends have been doing well in school, I'm thankful that music keeps me sane and sometimes insane depending on what is needed at the time. Believe it or not I'm thankful for the cold (Which I miss, crazy I know). I'm thankful that you find my life interesting enough to read this ha ha ha. I mean I could spend all day telling you what I am now thankful for, but you wouldn't be able to finish reading it in time to eat the feast so I won't be that cruel as long as you send me some stuffing to, P.O. Box Mike's Mouth, Mwanza, Tanzaina :)

The title may seem odd to you, but I promise it will start making sense soon, and if it doesn't you've just wasted 5 minutes of your life whahahahahaha! A while ago we had a missions team here, they went out and got enough soda and ice cream for everyone in the orphage to have a float! It was the best and stickest thing I've ever seen, some of the little ones tried giving me some of theirs but knowing where they're hands have been I said no thanks, The Mamas (workers who look after the kids) all had a good time as well, and one of them was so happy because...it was her first time ever having ice cream in her life. 25 years old and never had it once until that day.

Similer story, yesterday Joe (translator and friend) was with me while we did some shoping for the orphanage, he had spent the whole afternoon with me and missed lunch so we went for Pizza (I know! They have pizza out here, its just a little hole in the wall and no meat but then again knowing how long the meat can sit out for its better that way) and like wise he had never had pizza before. He kept asking me what it was called and how he could make it, he must have said thank you about a thousand times. Which put things in prosective for me about what I have had all along to be thankful for, so I'm not sure if your alone this thanksgiving, or with family, if you have had a good year, or a bad one, if your having a huge feast with all the fixings or just a Wendy's Hamburger or a slice of pizza with your roommates, but don't forget that what you have at this very moment, little or lots, is something to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving Friends God bless and keep you safe this holiday and everyday, I'm thankful that you took the time to read this.

I saw the Witchdoctor la la la

Okay so this ones been a loooooong time coming so lets do this people!

A little while ago I was walking down the street and as is normal looking at just about everything (taking in Africa) and I saw a man with his face painted all white. So thinking this was a witchdoctor I had a few opinions as a Christian man 1. Damn his evil powers back to hell with my trusty pocket holy water 2. Start praying silently or 3. get creeped out that he was making eye contact, grab my cross hanging on my neck and run.... being the brave man that I sometimes am I choose number 3 :D

Now after a few days I talked to Ron (the head of Starehe) and he told me that it was more likely a doctor who preforms special operations on little boys (decaping their captains) and then it made sense to me why when the little boys see me smile and wave at them they run away, they most think that if a guy with a white face did that to them, then whats the guy whos completely white going to do :P.

They have a word for all white people here, its Mazongo which means European, however thats its new meaning, it use to mean "One who holds their farts" no word of a lie. So seeing as how it means European and I am not one, I've started teaching all the little ones the word Canadain, to which they still responed MAZONGO, to which I have now started responeding with KENYIAN! (I live in Tanzania) after this they start responding with Canadian :) so all is right in the world now.

Anyways that was my story till I can find time to write another one for all you people out there, btw you all get little updates on my life, how about giving me some on yours? you all have my email or facebook so get to it! God bless :D

Target

Hey fellow bloggers and bloggies,

I have had some interesting visitors while I've lived here in Africa, now you might want to hear more details then that, like "Anyone cute? or What where they like?" well first off let me say that NOTHING with a million legs is cute, and anything that is poisonious is normally an unwelcome guest. Yes thats right I have quite big bugs that come into my room always right before bed and like to give me a startle cause I always seem to step on them, not the nicest thing to do to guests I know but they aren't the most welcome guests (Let that be a wronging to those who think they are on my bad side lol). I had gotten use to seeing the millapides or whatever they are called, I even knew they where semi-poisonious, however last night I had a brand new visitor, and like normal I only discovered him after I accidently killed him with my foot, it was the ever loving scorpion and he did sting me. So I took some pics then hopped off to see if scorpions can kill, turns out they can't, they can only make your foot really really big with swelling.

Now this might seem odd to you but I've gotten very use to it, I have had more strange encounters with everything and everyone sence coming here then I can ever remember. Last night I also met another interesting person, my family and I had decided to eat out cause our water was not working and our power was out. When we got to our desired eatting place a man came up to me spinning in circles, now frankly I was impressed that he could keep in such a stright path while spinning as fast as he was, when he got up he asked for a smoke I kindly told him I was trying to avoid setting anyone on fire, and he began to do a little dance, or place some kind of hex on me, I'm still not sure, anyways after finishing whatever he was doing he waved and spun off into the night. So I've come to realize I just attract strange people and things in Africa, but hey if I didn't then you'd never have any blogs to read now would you? Until next time God bless and try not to spin into anyone.

The Sun and the Moon...

Hey people in Canada and where ever your reading this from.

Africa...what an adventure...when people said this would be an experience you won't ever forget they where serious. I've been here just over four months...I've been away from all of you for just over four months. Things have happened on both sides to change all of us, both good and bad, nothing stays the same. I think its better that way, to never grow or change would be boring. I don't know where this is going or where it will end, just kind of blahing right now.

The twins I was talking about last blog haven't been doing so well, the first born is, but the second born hasn't been, two children now without parents due to stupid med problems that we could slove so easily back home. It makes me realize how blessed we really are in North American, I mean we all so we know, but do we? We have everything that these kids can only dream of, including parents. In fact I think anyone that has parents or even one parent is blessed 100 time over compared to some of these kids I see. We can give them food, a warm place to sleep, protection from the outside, love, but we can't give them parents the one thing they want the most. So if I may be so bold, could you all pray for these Kids there hearts, and for a brighter future for them all.

So we've been placed in our areas of life for a higher purpose, we can't just sit and think "I don't have lots of money, or my life has been so hard." Cause your life has been a lot better then most of the people who live here. You where given a calling to be a voice to those who have none, to be the doctor who stops the mother from dying, to be the humanitarian who aids the hungry, to be the office worker who helps sponser a child, don't say theres nothing you can do, because in the Bible we were called to help the widows and the orphans even if just in prayer. I'm sorry that this blog doesn't have a funny story or a happy feel.... but I can't laugh when others are crying.

God bless, you are all in my prayers as well, take care and be safe

Rain

Hello gents, ladies, and small fuzzy animals from Alpha 6 (Hitchhikers Guide)

I know it has been a while coming but its finally here, the new, the improved, the very very very late MIA BLOG!!!!! Many may be wondering just what this blog is about and for the slow ones who haven't guessed by the title its about.... the.....RAIN (ooooohhhh awwwwwwwww)....lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of rain, some of you may recall me saying there had been none for my three and a half months here, well it finally came today, and I mean it CAME!!! Some of the boys and I where digging a new hole for our drainage water to flow into, this hole has a 9ft radius, and is 18ft deep, (well not yet but thats how big it has to be), the boys wanted to go get some water and just before I could send them for some we all started to feel rain drops, so we got out of the hole and put away our tools. I turned them and said "see you in 5 minutes when this little rain stops" only it didn't and it wasn't little it rained for 2 hours, it was coming down like water from a tap!

So much in fact that my short walk from the hole to the office got me looking like I took a swim in Lake Victoria, but it didn't stop there, it started to hail as well.....yes I said hail........no I'm not joking it was hailing........ I already told you I'm not joking it was hailing, hail stones the size of acorns!!!.......just keep reading if you don't believe me, and if you do believe me keep reading! So this went on for about 2 hours, when it was over it looked like Canada in March...for about 5 minutes before the sun came out and melted all the hail but still it was cool. Now some of you might be wondering just how much water fell, well remember that hole I was telling you about? It now has about a foot of water if not more in it, so Starehe now has a swimming pool!!! At least until the sun comes out and zaps the water in 5 minutes time.

We also got new kids at our wonderful orphanage today :D One is called Kerwah (meaning first born) and the other is named Dohtoe (meaning second born) I know what your thinking, the names must have been hard to come up with but thats what all the twins get named in Tanzania I'm told. I personally would have named them something much better like Thing 1 and Thing 2 but they didn't ask me.

So thats my little adventure for today, I most say that I'm glad it finally rained it smells so much cleaner here now, the roads are all in bad shape but at least it smells clean, that and I finally got to bless the rain down in Africa! Anyways I'll try and post something new again sooner, but I'm a busy guy with all this rain and baby twins and tree cutting and wall building and school going, so if its not up super soon you all know way. So until next time God bless and take care

Another Day Another Dolla-Dolla

Okay this one's an older story but it's one of the first things that happened to me when I first got here. I was helping teach English and Math to some of the kids (yes I know I'm not fit to teach either but this was low level math and english), and mer some very nice german teachers and a british couple who had just gotten engaged their names where Nike and Emma. We all got to talking and one of the german teachers invited us to go play vollyball with them that night, we accepted this invite as none of us had done anything simi-normal sence going to Africa. We waited until around 4pm and then headed for the street to catch the Dolla-Dolla, it's kind of like our buses back home but about the size of a mini-van but it only cost 250 shillings (about 25 cents). So we hailed down one of the dolla-dollas and found that it was extremely packed that day, I'm talking P-A-C-K-E-D, Pac-Man couldn't have made it anymore packed. So we all crammed in, Mike and I got to stand on the thing like very awkward Tetris pieces who didn't know their place in the game. We laughed and just went about our way. Along the way however we picked up even more people, a mother and her baby, a man and his suitcases, a boy and his bag of rice, we where lucky though the one next to us had a boy and his goat get on their bus.

So now we're even more crammed, so much that I had to tilt my head in on direction and stick with it. My opinions were as follows; Mike's Armpit, a stranger's bottom, Mike's bottom, or Emma. So I picked turning my head to Emma and talking to her...at least until the mother dropped her top and started breastfeeding like it was no biggy (and here it's not considered that big of a deal to do that sort of thing here. however if you show your shoulder as a women it means your looking for things...go figure crazy place) So my next choice was to pick Mike's Armpit, over which we had a great conversation about our favourite deodorants, turns out we both like and use Old Spice Mountain Rush. Both of us felt sorrier for Emma, she happened to have one of the mothers breast resting right on her arm for about 35 minutes not that we saw firsthand of course, Mike's face was admiring the metal roof while my face was stuck in his armpit and very grateful that he was wearing some pitstick.
She however felt the over powering need to explain the whole ordeal in great detail once the ride was over. When it was over we counted all the people and it was 31 people, 31 in the bus which is the sign of a mini-van. Think about that night time you want to complain about Ottawas bus system.

Will put up post soon

Hey guys I know its been awhile I've been trying to put up one of my fav stories but I'm having some problems with blogspot and my normal blogging computer which happens to have my story on it, anyways I will have a new adventure soon for you all to read, in the meantime you could email me and let me all know how your lifes are doing :D

Riverdance Africa Style!!!

Okay so a looooooooot of you more then I knew where reading this, have been after me to write more blogs, FIRST lets clear up a few things.
1. I am in africa at an Aids Orphange with 125 kids
2. Internet costs a ton and a half (which is why I have no pictures up)
3. I have school on top of everything I do.

So as much as I hold you all dearly to my heart, I can't be posting a blog everyday, One cause I don't have that kind of time, and two because my life here isn't all that interesting unless you want to hear about the monkeys with the neon colored privates who like to dance on my roof at night and keep me up. Or about the stray dogs who find it alright to bark off key till all hours, or about the cows next door who moo so loud the dogs get annoyed.

For those of you who answered yes to the perivous paragraph, you'll have to wait till I feel like writing that much sorry. This blog is about action, adventure, SUNDAY SCHOOL!!!!!

Seriously church over here rocks your socks off, or if you can't afford socks, your skin off (quite painful really) We where invited to church to day by one of the people we work with. A local who has been nothing but smiles and very friendly. We went and I was in shock, I mean I've seen Choirs sing before, I've seen dancers dance, but these people where doing it all, about 18 of them in three rows where going crazy. It was like watching Stomp mets Cats, mets Boy Mets World! they where almost flippin, they where jumping and high kickin, they where shaking and spinnin. The only thing that would have made it any more impressive is if they where jumping past hoops of fire.

So I got to thinking "wow I wonder what the special thing is this week?" turns out that was just their weekly worship service, very interesting compared to our stand still services back home. I mean it really could have been riverdance, I was about 5 seconds away from getting up and joining them but then I realized that I am sadly white and can't dance like that, BUT I"M GOING TO TRY.......next month maybe...Anyways once again sorry that the blogs are kinda far apart, I'm trying to get 2-3 a week put out, but once again I pay for internet by the Megabyte, which Megabites! I know corny but thats part of who I am. Anyways to all of you Crazy Canadians back home and whoever else might be reading this God bless and until next time Keep Fit and Have Fun! (Little east coast funny)

Picture

I've been in Africa for about three and a half months now, just over 1/4 of my total time here, its been a lot of good and bad, I think the worst thing is the ones you leave behind, your lifes use to be interconnected then you hit the fork, now I'm over here living a compleately different life then I ever pictured myself living, and my friends back home are living something compleately different. I mean so much as happened to me and how I see everything now and I'm sure before this years over it will change even more, likewise back home things are changing pretty rapidly as well, I mean I have a couple of friends getting married soon, people are finishing up there degrees and looking for that job that will send them on their way. Sometimes its almost freaky how fast life seems to slip past you.

My one respite for it all has been the odd emails I get from some friends back home (thanks to those of you trying to keep in touch it means a lot to me), and two pictures that sit right above my desk, both taken they day of my graduation, one is of five of us all smiling and glad to be done with high school, and the second is a recreation of a photo taken in grade ten, the totumpole, both bring a big smile to my face and make me remember that tho nothing can stay the same the changes that are happening have as much good to them if not more then the bad. So tho I don't know how things stand between me and all who are reading this, I care about all of you, my friends and family, and I look forward to seeing you again, but its not that time, not just yet. I remember you all in my prayers until next post God bless

Your Friend
Michael Conrad

Why wouldn't you hit me doing 80?

This story is fresh just happened today, and it was so strange I just had to post it!

So I woke up this morning after just missing the ending to another great dream (don't you hate it when that happens) and tried to roll out of bed only to remember that I'm trapped by a bug net (I now know how a fish feels) after coming to my senses and accepting my fate of having to get up, I looked at my watch and realized I had slept in. So I did what anyone else would do, threw on the closest thing that was clean, cleaned my face and brushed my teeth in record time and get on my bike and away I flew.

Now as I was getting to the main road, I noticed a man just waiting on the side of the street, I assumed he was waiting for the bus, so I started to turn, and he jumps out in front of me, I moved, he moved, I moved again, he moved again. By this time I was getting a little miffed, so I shut off my bike and just waited, at this point he got on the ground and laid there, he then saw the cars coming behind me and got up, said some words that I can only assume where not "good morning how are you" and then politely gave me the finger before walking off. I then finished my trip and got to Starehe.

When I got to Starehe I learned that a few people make this a full time job, throwing themselfs infront of oncoming traffic if the person looks rich. Me being white here everyone thinks I am, so needless to say I couldn't help but laugh at how backwards the whole thing seemed, back home someone would yell and give you the bird if you hit them, here its only if you miss them that they get angry. So now I'm just hoping a lot of people stay mad at me here.

Keep Your LEFT hand to yourself!

Okay don't let the title fool you I'm a lefty and I peronally think lefthanders rock hard core, I mean studies have been done that have proven we're more creative, better at sports, and make good leaders, and you can't argue with studies sorry to all the righthanders out there, better luck next life.

Alright now that I've alienated most of my friends I'll get to the point of this blog.

Tanzania is a interesting country, it has a beautiful landscape, the people for the most part are friendly, and fruit is uber cheap! That being said it still has weird traditions. When I first got here, no one told me that left handed people where seen as evil or dirty so I had to find out the hard way, eatting out I would get looks of disgust, writing I would get glares, and everytime I would wave at someone with my left hand they would give me a dirty look.

It wasn't until a month ago that someone told me that in Tanzania toilet paper is not common so the left hand is used to eerr "clean up" whats left behind. Needless to say this helped me understand why people at the dining areas looked like they where ready to throw up when they saw me eat...I explained to the kids at the orphage that I was born lefthanded and couldn't help but use it, and that I used toilet paper, still they started to think that I used my right hand to "clean up" so no one would shake my hand for about a week until I was able to explain toilet paper and what washing your hands with soap means. This got me thinking about friends here, guys hold hands only if they are extremely close friends, and this made sense to me a lot more now cause one of them would have to hold the left hand lol.

It doesn't stop there tho, witchdoctors are very common in Africa and more so in Tanzania, and being lefthanded is normally seen as being evil. So for any leftys who might be interested in coming to help out, you have been warned.

Still Left handed people are just awesome!

Bikes are Cool, Skingraphs aren't!

Hello World!

Alright so heres the thing, Tanzania is packed pretty tight, about as tight as our whole countary of Canada! So needless to say getting around can be really annoying when there is only one car, after talking with my folks about the waste of gas using a big car to do little tasks I began to start talking about how great a motorcycle would be, just as a joke mind you, but my folks began to put some very serious thinking into this idea and after a month...I now have a bike to do tasks for Starehe, as well as a personal way of getting around on my off day. Now some of you might be asking "Mike wheres the funny?" while others might be praying "Oh God, please don't let him make another lame joke!" Getting the license to drive here was no joking matter, yet was extremely funny.

I took my Canadian Drivers Licence to the Tanzania Tax Rev which will now be refered to as (TRA) to get a transfer, they gave me a form to fill out and then sent me to the police station. Once at the police station, a very interesting officer told me that I had to go back to the TRA, I asked why, and he said "Because they do not send you here, we send you there, then they send you here" so I had to go back to the TRA, just so that I could get sent back to the police station...but its not over yet!

I then had to provide them with three passport photos, and a copy of my Canadian Licence, then another copy of my licence, just incase the first one was a fake...then I would normally be tested on there road signs (which make no sense half the time, I SWEAR one of them means incoming meteors) but the police officer couldn't be bothered today cause he was sleepy, so I filled out all the forms then....got sent back to the TRA, to fill out another form, pay a fee for the test I never took, and then....you guessed it, got sent back to the police station, to have them re-check my brandnew licence. then I finally got to leave.

This took the span of three days cause I didn't have half the stuff I needed, (it was changing day to day). So there is my insane update and weird/lame/funny story...Next Post: Keep Your Left Hand to Yourself see yeah then :D

Living 90 Days at a Time

Jambo Rafiki's (Hello Friends)

Seriously if someone says Jambo to you here its not an insult their just saying hello, Swahili is a blast to speak just make sure you know what your saying or they'll have you singing about tight underwear being stuffed full of banadas, true story. Anyhow, I'm here on a 90 day visa, and have been waiting for my permit to come in, which I filed for in April and my 90 days ends tuesday which means I need to be out of the country on monday if my permit doesn't show.

So needless to say right now I'm living 90 days at a time, my permit is "on its way" but its been on it way for a month now, so I might have to take a trip to Kenya for a few days then come back. Got me thinking tho, about how life just throws you for a loop sometimes, I mean a year ago I wouldn't have dreamed of being in Africa, but here I. So being here has been one thing after another, in fact getting here was one thing after another, but its shown me that no matter how much you plan, or how far you set a path ahead of yourself, your permit on life is only good for one day at a time.

The Night the Earth Bleed Ants

If the title didn`t give it away I don`t know what will.
We have a missions team from Canada here, helping to build a wall to keep out the wild life, lol and keep some of the wild life in. Its going pretty well and the team has been great for followship, however after finishing a hard days work at Starehe Childrens Home, we went back to there house to find that the ground all around (both inside the teams house and out) was FLOODED with ants, and the ants here are MEAN!

They bite they, they crawl in places ants shouldn`t, then they bite in places ants shouldn`t (or anything else for that matter) we used six cans of bug spray before retreating back to my house, where the team decided to stay the night, so a totally of 12 people in a very very tiny house and we had all eatten beans that night for supper soooo needless to say it made for a very interesting night.

so there is my funny and stange story, I have many many many more, and will most likely have more and more in the days to come, but for now we`ll start with one.

Finally Got it Started

Hello world!

Or whoever finds the time to be reading this, I finally got started on a blog/update for those who have been bugging me to do so *cough, JANESSA, cough* so now everyone can be happy. I have a couple of stories to write that have already happened a month or two ago, and a very exciting one that happened only last night, I will post it later for those of you who actully care to read it.