Whoever gave the funny bone its name must have been some kind of prankster, because there is nothing funny at all about that bone. I agree with this guy, it should be called the “Not Funny Bone”….here, learn something about it:
For Cheese Lovers February 5, 2010
…or anyone who likes to work out to “Eye of the Tiger”….
Happy Friday!
A Quarter-Century February 1, 2010
Welcome back Bloggity Blog Blog readers and friends…
This weekend I turned 25 which got me thinking about how much has happened in the world since 1985. So let’s take a trip back in time and look at some interesting things that have gone on in the past quarter century, in no particular order…
1) BLOGS, Twitter, Facebook, etc (so that everybody can be somebody)
2) Not to mention the INTERNET in general
4) In 1999 Steve Jobs says “One more thing…” just before unveiling the iMac and iPod…predecessors to iPhones and now the iPad (which, according to my brother will have a second release that is larger and called the MAXiPad…)
5) The Harry Potter revolution
6) The dot com bubble burst, but a few came out on top Google, Amazon, eBay (in the 9th grade my brother tried to sell me on eBay for 4 pesos, real cool bro) 
7) Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield’s ear off, ew. He shouldn’t have waited, he should have just had a Snickers.
8 ) In TV: Seinfeld, The Simpsons, and Saved by the Bell
9) Lettuce in a bag and string cheese
10) Hand sanitizer
11) The end of apartheid in South Africa, Nelson Mandela is elected and works with Desmond Tutu to bring reconciliation to the people.
12) Phone booths go MIA as we go mobile
13) After 86 years, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series
14) Napster, Limewire, boy bands, CDs, American Idol, iTunes and the digital music wave
15) “Reality” TV Shows (c’mon, we all have our favorite one, what’s yours??)
16) GO GREEN, hybrid cars, and global warming (or not…what’s the latest on this?)
17) Everyone somehow gets connected to Kevin Bacon
Hey, I know you!
18) The world begins to learn about HIV/AIDS (In GA we have the 6th highest rate of pediatric HIV/AIDS cases in the nation…click here to learn about an organization that’s doing something about that)
19) Mastercard launches Priceless, one of the longest running ad campaign to date…in the advertising biz they’d say that camp= aign’s “got legs”…really long ones apparently.
20) Atlanta hosts the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games (and in tern hosted a park bombing)
21) Cloning (This is pretty crazy, but I’m still holding out for teleportation)
22) Oprah shares people’s stories and gives away a lot of stuff (and most of the time someone cries, either tears of sorrow or tears of joy)
23) Obama and Osama
24) The fall of Communism (1989)
25) Reader’s Choice – What noteworthy things come to mind when reflecting on the past 25 years?
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*thanks to USA Today for being my source for internet sleuthing the past 25 years
A Blogger Break January 8, 2010
HAPPY NEW YEAR! A week late…
As you may or may not have noticed, the blog has been a bit bare lately.
It turns out that coming home has been busier than expected…holidays, catching up with family and friends, a series of unfortunate events (credit card fraud, a return of the mysterious African illness, and a “hit & run” – but with insurance – phew!)….
At first I thought I was getting Punk’d and kept expecting Ashton Kutcher to pop out at any minute…but then I realized that I wasn’t a celebrity and so that didn’t make any sense at all. And the fact that I am driving a rental car that looks like Mr.Bean’s car must mean that certainly it all really happened. And all within a week of my return – no better way to say “Welcome Home!”?
All of these events were just a good way to put to use what I learned in Tanzania…hakuna matata means “no worries”!
And the Bean car has grown on me, not gonna lie.
So, the good news is that I feel that I have finally crossed the threshold of awkwardness and have successfully re-assimilated back into society. But in other news, I have decided to take a break from the blog for the month of January to spend time focusing on a few other priorities. So mark your calendars (or not)…on January 31st I make my quarter-century turn which seems like a good occasion to reunite with the bloggy blog.
So enjoy the snow, stay warm, and until February…..blogger out!
Awkward vs. Awesome December 21, 2009
I’ve been home for about a week and have experienced many things about coming home that are awesome…but there are also quite a few things about coming home that are really awkward. So, I thought it’d be fun to do a side-by-side Top 5.
The AWESOME List
Besides the obvious (like coming home to family, friends, and an American-English computer keyboard)
- Doing laundry in a washer & dryer. I put in the first load, pushed the buttons, and walked away. And then I did a little happy dance because washer-dryers are AWESOME.
- Cold weather and hot showers…and the fact that I finally stopped sweating.
- Having a car. I went to about 7 places before lunch time the other day and I didn’t even break a sweat or have to turn down offers for taxis, spice tours, or marriage.
- My church. I love that place and missed it a lot.
- Dairy products. Oh how I missed you.
The AWKWARD List
- Accidentally saying Asante, or ’Thank you” in Swahili to people such as waiters in restaurants. It’s a habit that developed from saying this all the time when I was out an about in Tanzania.
- Not remembering the American-English words for things. Such as “cash register”, which I referred to as “store check-out register machine”, or something. This has unfortunately happened more often than I’d like to admit.
- Fighting the urge to eat with my hands.
- Buying things. American dollars look like monopoly money to me right now, and paying with plastic feels awkward because I can’t remember what I’m supposed to do with the card: Do I swipe it? Do they swipe it? Do I have to sign something? I can’t remember the rules. And why do I keep wanting to barter down prices with the employee at the store check-out register machine?
- A majority of people I have encountered since coming home seemed stressed out, and for whatever reason it makes me uncomfortable. If you decide to talk to me while you are stressed out…just go ahead and prepare yourself for some awkward conversation.
To Blog or Not to Blog…That is the Question December 17, 2009
Many of you have asked whether or not I will continue the blog now that I am home. I thought about taking a vote, but then I realized I should only do that if I was prepared to find out how many people would vote “Not to Blog”.
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According to this tracker diddly thing on the right of the screen, there have been over 10,000 visits (woh!!) to the blog since it’s been open for business this summer …Thanks Mom! and I don’t know if I can leave you all hanging just yet, especially not at Christmas…nobody wants to be alone at Christmas. So, much to your delight (or not) the blog will go on. At least for a little while longer.
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I’ve been home for almost 4 days now and have already experienced plenty of weird coming-home moments that are worth mentioning, so stay tuned as I blog my way through the reverse culture shock of returning to America.
Finals Week – Tanzania Style December 15, 2009
That’s right, I just finished Finals Week in Tanzania. And even though a lot of this three month venture to Africa evoked many similar emotions and experiences to my first semester of college (communal bathrooms, shower shoes, twin beds, new friends, feeling generally awkward and out of place, getting lost, homework, not understanding anything anyone around you is saying, etc, etc.), I’m not talking about finals in the sense of the semi-annual academic tradition of fate-determining tests, papers, and projects. Nope.
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Finals week for me was a time to wrap things up and say farewell, and although my Tanzanian Finals weren’t academically challenging, it has been a test of emotion and endurance. This is a bittersweet time because while I am so thankful and excited to be home to soak up all the glory and joy of Christmas with family and friends, I had to say goodbye to people, places, and experiences that I am sure have impacted my life in far greater ways than I am able to recognize from this present moment.
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A few of the Tanzanian Finals I had this week…
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Finals moments with new friends that became more like a family
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Final days with the women of Upendo Means Love
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Final sips of happycinos at my favorite cafe
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Final goodbyes to Stone Town & Zanzibar
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Final sunsets over the Indian Ocean
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Final wild animal adventures
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Final altercation/luggage rough-housing at the ferry port
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Final round of bucket laundry
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Final taste of Stoney Tangawize, chapati, and Zanzibar spices
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Final Rotary Club of Stone Town meeting
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Finals nights sleeping under a mosquito net
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Final dala-dala and bajaji rides
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Final days of the hakunah matata and hamna shida (no worries, no problem) Tanzanian approach to life
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Final days of sun and heat from the longest summer ever…
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I can’t even begin to name all of the things I am thankful for about the past three months, but I can attest whole heartedly that I am more grateful than ever for God’s faithfulness through this time. He truly provides for every need; He even provides the things you don’t know you need until He’s already taken care of them for you.
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I am thankful for a safe return home after spending my last week in Zanzibar/Tanzania fighting what may or may not have been malaria, as well as fighting off the fear instilled in me by a housemate whose future-seeing friend in Ethiopia (that does not know me) foretold my death in a dream she had in which I never made it home. Lydia reinterpreted this dream for me: as Christians we believe our true home is in Heaven, so according to the dream that foretold that I wouldn’t be making it home from Africa, I just wouldn’t be going to heaven (my true home) yet. And since I ended up in Atlanta, which I know can easily be mistaken for heaven sometimes I’m going to say that this interpretation was a little more accurate. Two thumbs up!
I’m going to say that this interpretation was a little more accurate. Two thumbs up!.
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Also, this amazing adventure would not have been possible without The Rotary Foundation, The Rotary Club of North Atlanta, or The Rotary Club of Stone Town, Zanzibar. Thank you all for your support, enthusiasm, and for welcoming me into your clubs and providing friendship and guidance at home and abroad.
Last but not least, I’d like to recognize all of you blog-commenters, friends, and family that made an effort to keep in touch via email, voicemails, snail mail, etc. I can’t tell you enough how much each and every message meant to me. Thank you, and I can’t wait to catch up in person!
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