africa
Blog Posts
From blizzards to the Sahel
As usual I have been neglecting to write anything on this blog. I spent several weeks in southern New Jersey ...
Pointing at Difference and Finding Inclusion
The four young women and I hop from rock to rock, avoiding the sewage that carves dirty channels in the ...
An Unassuming Paradise
Ah, the power of positive thinking. I truly believe you can find paradise anywhere. It could be a beautiful beach ...
Six Countries in Six Photos (and a Bonus Video)
My passport received a great deal of ink over the past five weeks. As I mentioned in my last entry, ...
The Deal with Studying Abroad in a Muslim, African Country
When you announce your intentions to study abroad, people respond with a number of reactions. I've gotten everything from "why?! ...
How I Survived My First (and Second) Malawian Wedding
Malawian weddings are marathon affairs. Numerous parties lead up to the day, and smaller celebrations follow the main event. But ...
Planning Families After They’ve Already Begun
An oversized spiral-bound book in her hands, Yamikani circles the dilapidated schoolroom. She shows an illustration to each of the ...
I Will Never Be Able To Shake My Rear End Like That
Triza beamed at me with the pride of a fairy godmother. “You’re a real Malawian woman now,” she said, “a ...
And To Think The Burning Piles Of Trash Once Attracted My Attention
Five weeks into my yearlong stay in Malawi, I’ve been reflecting on those aspects of life I thought would remain ...
Gettin’ Down With Nigel, My Eight-Year-Old Zimbabwean Neighbor
After three years in the dorms and one year in a house of 10 women (if you dated any of ...
Why You Do Not Tell Your Mother About Your Mode of Transportation
“They say no vehicle in Malawi is ever full,” a friend told me last week. Indeed — commuting in Malawi ...
Fanning the Flame(s)
The roads of Blantyre are louder than most I’ve navigated — I’m still learning to tune out the honking, which ...
Green Tea and Moon Cakes: This is Africa?
In the film “Blood Diamond,” Leonardo DiCaprio’s character often grumbles a brusque “T.I.A.” — “This is Africa.” Machete-wielding vandals, a ...
Trafficking in Tobacco
Walking into the vast tobacco auction room, my nostrils feel as if they have entered a hay maze. The smell ...
On the Road from Ruhengeri: A Journey Into the Land of a Thousand Hills
Between April and June of 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed within 100 days. Most of those massacred were ...
African Innovation and Entrepreneurialism
I’ve reconnected with two old friends here in Kayanga, Tanzania. Together, they’ve reminded me why we’re here and shown me ...
Just an Ordinary Day in South Africa
Seven people - one Liverpool "football" fan born in Poland; one "frat boy"; one of those kids who's been to, it ...
'Falling with Style' from 9,000 Feet Up
Remember that line from Toy Story? When Woody first meets Buzz Lightyear, he commits what might be the greatest ad ...
'Falling with Style' from 9,000 Feet Up
Remember that line from Toy Story? When Woody first meets Buzz Lightyear, he commits what might be the greatest ad ...
Trudging Through the Township: On Tour of Imizamo Yethu
“Keep me clean.” It’s a warning written on the front of each of four doors. Standing on the cracked, ...
All Aboard the Minibus
Come tomorrow, I will have been navigating my way around the city of Cape Town for exactly three weeks. The ...
Mpumalungu
Two vans carrying 14 students and 2 professors are cruising through rural Mpumalanga province on their way back to the ...
Out of Africa
I've been living and studying in Africa for 10 weeks; oddly enough, I only came to this realization a few ...
