Glasgow, Scotland (Hold the Haggis, Please)

I have been enjoying an extra week between Discipleship Training School ending and my flight back home. Among other things, this extra time has meant more Muller Corners yogurt and more tuna salad baguettes from Gregg's. It has also meant that I've been able to travel, to Scotland no less!

Two words: National Express, the inter-Kingdom coach company that travels everywhere, at all times, for relatively cheap. (Never mind that the trip will be 8 or more hours--that's part of the adventure. And, after riding through the Serengeti for 10 hours, everything else is a breeze.)

After a brief search on the internets, I found the Devoncove Hotel in Glasgow, Scotland, the most inexpensive hotel in the United Kingdom at £45.00 a night, on Sauchiehall Street no less! Sauchiehall! I just like saying Sauchiehall. At any rate, Glasgow is the third largest city in the U.K. so there was a lot to see and do, despite only being in town for about 48 hours.

This is a part of the city center, at the intersection of Sauchiehall Street and Buchanan Street. About a dozen blocks were pedestrian traffic only, which was very conducive to wandering.
The M8 underpass. In the distance you'll see hills and windmills. I really like that no matter how large the city is, you're not too far away from farmland in the U.K..
Charing Roundabout, which is just above the M8 underpass. It's a busy, exciting place, connecting the city center and the neighborhood where my hotel was.
The castle--or church--is Glasgow University right beyond Kelvingrove Park and some fantastic bowling greens. I'll come back to the U.K. if only to play a few rounds of bowling!

Yes, Kelvingrove Park was just down the street from the Devoncove Hotel, so I spent the afternoon wandering around it. There were some massive mansions on Park Terrace, on the hill of Kelvingrove Park, but all of them were under construction so I just kept walking without taking a photo.


This is River Kelvin (that undoubtedly runs to River Clyde) that winds through the park. Cool little stream.Sauchiehall Street.

The view from my hotel room, which is pretty cool. There is a revival of old buildings in Glasgow. A lot of old, really old, buildings are being restored and developed in to some awesome flats and offices.

By chance I found my way to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, a pretty decent place to wander around for free (although I donated a 1-pound coin and two U.S. quarters). They had a cool photography exhibit of Harry Benson and some Maasai artifacts in a gallery focusing on tradition and technology. It was odd to see Maasai stuff in a museum when I've seen it first-hand.

At any rate, I found this sign quite humorous:


Ah, good times. I hope this summer brings road trips to your itinerary as well! See you soon!

Chapatis

Whilst in Tanzania, my whole team became fans of chapatis, the Tanzanian version of the dinner roll or tortilla. Chapatis are essential to the African diet and are best served with beans (spicy kidney beans). Some people enjoy their chapatis with plum or strawberry jam. Marmite, Nutella, cinnamon-sugar, really, the variations are endless. And because of this, I need to share the recipe with you, African style.

Ingredients
Wheat Flour
Salt
Sugar
Warm Water
Cooking Oil

Directions
Mix wheat flour with salt and sugar. Add small amounts of warm water, continually mixing with your hands until it becomes a soft dough. Knead until smooth, adding flour if needed. Mix in oil until moist. Let sit for some minutes.

Cut dough into small pieces and roll on a floured surface into circles. When finished rolling, warm a frying pan with some cooking oil and when it is warm, start cooking!

My friend Ann, from Kenya, gave me this recipe. She was a little shy giving it to me, admitting she's never had to think about writing the recipe down; she just knows it! Thus, amongst other reasons, she doesn't know any of the measurements. But don't let that stop you from having a fun afternoon experimenting in the kitchen. I suggest starting off with 2 cups of flour, a tsp of salt, 1/4 cup of sugar, and say, 3 tbs of vegetable oil in the dough. Then just fry them like a grilled cheese sandwich, until they're a little toasty on each side.

African deliciousness.

Tanzania II

Just an observation before we get on with the photos. Because we were so close to the equator in Tanzania, the sun was up by around 7:30am and tucked behind the mountains by 7:30pm. In England, though, it's a party. The sun is up at 4am and the sky doesn't get dark until a little after 10pm. This amazing sunlight is perfect for weekend barbecues and ensuring that you never sleep in in the morning.

At any rate, here we are, more photos:
Yes, everyone loves Fanta in Tanzania. 350ml for about $0.25, it'd be your favorite beverage too.
Speaking of food, let's move on. This is Cultural Night at the Arusha base (and me with my friends Christine and Louise) at which every "tribe" brought food that represented their nation. The white people tribe brought mashed potatoes.
Again, everyone enjoys Fanta.
More Fanta, but that's not the main point. if you look closely, you'll notice some odd tan lines on my face and shoulder. I enjoyed a 4-hour dirt-road safari and came out of the car looking almost African from all the dust.

Back at the base, some of my friends peeling dozens of garlic cloves for dinner. Preparing lunch and dinner is an all-day affair in Tanzania. No cans or preservatives in sight.
In fact, this is our food for a 4-day trip to Anga Karat. Those are oranges and tomatoes in the front right in front of the best-tasting pineapple in the world.
Cooking takes all day, in part, because at the base, they have to cook for 200+ people. Tuesdays and Fridays were chipati day and things got crackin' at 1pm for dinner at 6pm.
We're knee-deep in making 400 chapatis, but love to eat them so much, we're all happy to help.

It's Kili Time!

Hi, Everyone!

I'm back in England after an exotic stint in Tanzania, and in the next few days, will be giving you a photo tour of our time there. Let's begin with nature!
Two cool desert birds in Anga-Karat. It took me about 20 minutes to get a decent photo of these guys, so enjoy!
Sunset in the desert of Anga-Karat. Soon after this, there would be nothing to look at but the expansive southern sky.

It's Mt. Kilimanjaro from our return flight! It's about a 4-day round trip to climb it, but it looks worth it and many other people concur--it's one of the main tourist attractions in Tanzania.
The toucan that visited our base the day we were leaving for home, which looked almost prehistoric! It was about 2-feet long and very, very noisy. Not the most pleasant thing to encounter, but still very cool.
This is Mt. Meru, just outside our base gates. The bases water supply comes from about a third of the way up the mountain, but that certainly doesn't mean it is mountain fresh spring water, for it was infested with many water-borne pathogens. Thus, I think I drank about 30 1.5L bottles of water while in Tanzania.

Our first giraffe friends. "Twiggas" in Swahili. Definitely the most beautiful animals in Tanzania!

I'll have many more photos to follow, so keep checking back for more! Enjoy!

Panda Fashion

Hello Again!

I've spent close to 6 weeks in Tanzania and I'm excited to share with you a few highlights as my time here draws to a close. Okay, so there's one or two low lights as well, but all things considered, they're really not that bad.

• "Panda Fashion" is hands-down, my favorite beverage down here in Tanzania. Fanta Passion Fruit that is. I will miss it and half-jokingly considered a Panda Fashion import business once I am back home.
• I cordially had to accept, drink, and compliment 2 cups of fresh goat's milk in one day. Let's just say I'm very, very glad I had a cold and couldn't taste everything normally. Unfortunately colds don't do anything for strange textures in your mouth.
• I've taken part in eating 7 goats whilst here. I "prefer" (I don't like goat at all) the boiled and then roasted cooking method.
  
• I've had the opportunity on several occasions, to dance, sing, and jump with Maasai people. It is a privilege to say that I have jumped with some of the finest Maasai dancers around.
• After weeks in Africa, I finally discovered my first--and only--herd of elephants on a rip-roaring safari. Elephants are cool. Giraffes are beautiful. Wildebeest look like Swiss Miss Cocoa girls.
  
• After weeks if Africa, I was finally told that baboons are the nastiest animals in the Serengeti and you can face heavy fines for approaching them. This after my teammate excitedly walked up to them to take photos only to run away frightened as the started chasing her with evil eyes.
• Traveling 10 hours to Loliondo through Crater National Park and the Serengeti.
  
• Buying trinkets at the Maasai market in a small village in the Loliondo area.
• Buying 2 chapatis and a Fanta Passion for only 800 shilling (75 cents)
• Befriending Mark and Andrew, 2 cool--and tall--Maasai guys who helped us with our outreach in Loliondo.
• Giving Mark my birthday because he doesn't know what day of the year, or which year for that matter, that he was born.
• Receiving 3 necklaces from 3 different Maasai women as gestures of friendship.
• Eating freshly roasted peanuts
  
• Talking with friends from all over Africa about how they became Christians and connected with YWAM.
• Talking about the Bible in English and having my words translated to Swahili and Maasai

That's all from Tanzania! Have a good day, and next time you hear from me, I'll be back in England.