Monday, June 28, 2010

June 27th and 28th

JUNE 27TH
Today we finally got to sleep in and awoke around 830. We ate a lovely breakfast of toast and fruit. Then at 10 we were given a tour of the UAACC (United African Alliance Community Centre) where we're staying. It's a really nice campus, like I really enjoy being here. Soon after that we learned a dance from some of the students at UAACC, it was soooo exhausting, we literally danced for about 3 hours straight in bare feet. My feet felt like they were going to fall off afterwords! After that it was lunch time which again was very tasty. After lunch we relaxed and worked on our computers. Then it was time to present our dance to everyone at UAACC, so we all wore somewhat traditional clothing during our dance. Overall I'm really glad we did the dances, it was so much fun! We also taught the Tanzanian dancers an american dance, the cupid shuffle, hahaha. After I got the chance to call my lovely mother for the 2nd day in a row, I know she absolutely loved to hear from me. After that it was close to dinnertime, we had a lovely dinner of chicken with rice. I basically ate my weight in white rice. After dinner I watched a little Fifa before Pete talked to us. Pete showed us a video about him and the black panthers. It was reallly an amazing video. Pete O'Neal is an amazing guy, he's completely turned his life around in Tanzania and I have the utmost respect for him. After we finished the talk we went to sleep. I slept amazingly well.

JUNE 28TH
We again awoke around 8:30 and had breakfast around 9. After breakfast we all got our cameras and headed to the dining area to learn some photography techniques before heading outside the gates of the compound to take pictures. I took a few nice panoramic pictures, and i learned how to put them all together which really excites me because I can definitely use that in Australia. After taking pictures outside I walked inside and had a lovely conversation with Miss Rachel Owens. After that we downloaded our pictures and worked on picking out our Top 10's from the trip. I'm still not done with that... Then we had a lovely lunch of PIZZA and FRENCH FRIES. Never has such unhealthy food tasted so good... I'm counting down the minutes until I can have a cheeseburger. After lunch we had kind of an open forum with the Tanzanian students where we asked each other questions about the other's country. Most of the questions somehow dealt with money is some fashion. Like is everyone rich in America? How does everyone get so much money in America? ect... I could tell that most of these fallacies were fabricated from Hollywood. There wasn't much truth in their notions. But overall it was a great learning experience for all of us. After the forum we started to work on our projects and other things again, which I am nowhere near finishing at the present time... Right now we are about to sit down to dinner and after that we are presenting our on-assignment projects and having a "party", which at the moment is a giant enigma as to what it truly is. After dinner and the other festivities I'm going to resume packing up my stuff and figuring out what stuff I'm going to leave behind for the children at UAACC.

7 comments:

  1. Hi Kevin. I have really enjoyed reading all of your posts. It is so nice to know what you are doing. Who would have thought that the food would be so perfect for you?? Nothing beats white rice and meat! Can't wait to see you on Wednesday. You could leave behind the camping gear - dishes, mosquito net, camp chair, towels, clothespins, and whatever clothes you want to part with. Hold onto the sleeping bag and pad - you might need that in the future. I think Dad probably wants you to bring back the camera!! I just want you back safe and sound! Can't wait to see you on Wednesday. Mom

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  2. Hi Kevin. I enjoyed reading your post. Rachel has not posted anything lately. Please tell her hello. --Randy Owens

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  3. Mommy- I thought you would enjoy reading all my posts! They take forever to type, but I know you love them! The food has been really good, the cooks here at UAACC are amazing. We had fried chicken tonight! It tasted really goodl, but it definitely wasn't Canes.. And will do, I need a bit more space to bring home some of my presents for everyone!

    Mr. Owens- Will do, I'll be sure to get her to post something tomorrow. Rachel is doing fine though! She keeps forgetting to take her Malarone, but I remind her everyday!

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  4. Hi Kevin. Dad here. I really enjoy reading your blog postings. Tons of folks at work are following your blog. Counting the hours till you are home. I will be tracking your flights on the internet as you make your way home. By the way, do you still have the ball head for the tripod? Just checking so I can be sure that we are geared up for Australia!! Dad

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  5. Thanks Dad! And really? How many people have you sent the address to? And yesss, only a few more hours till I"m home, 25 hours of traveling! And no we dont need the ball head, that was in the camera bag so we're good to go for Australia!

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  6. That's great. Australia is just a few days away! Probably 20 or so folks at MDA are following you! Did you get some use out of the tripod and how is the camera performing overall? Safe travels - have fun!

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  7. Really? 20 people? that's pretty cool! And unfortunately I got absolutely zero use of the tripod before it vanished. The camera performed great overall, it took a little time to get used to using Manual mode, but I got the hang of it eventually and got some great shots. It's really dirty from all the dust and stuff. And we need to get a new filter for the 24-70 lens. I kinda dropped it in one of the Safari cars, the lens is fine, the filter shattered.

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