Saturday, November 19, 2011
Lost Scriptures of EO
I found my blog document from my delirious plane typing. Posts and pictures will follow in the coming days.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
A Lesson for the Swiss
We’ve determined the following (US time-Burundi time):
1 minute = 45 minutes
5 minutes = 30 minutes
2 hours = 4 hours
Riddle me this:
If Gitega and Songa are both 2 hours away from Bujumbura, and car A is headed from Songa at 2 PM and car B is headed from Gitega at 4 PM to meet in the center of Bujumbura, at what time will both cars meet?
Scroll down for the answer.
Answer: Some time (or, 5 or 6)
1 minute = 45 minutes
5 minutes = 30 minutes
2 hours = 4 hours
Riddle me this:
If Gitega and Songa are both 2 hours away from Bujumbura, and car A is headed from Songa at 2 PM and car B is headed from Gitega at 4 PM to meet in the center of Bujumbura, at what time will both cars meet?
Scroll down for the answer.
Answer: Some time (or, 5 or 6)
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Long Days (not Day's) Journey into Night
We head home in about 4 hours. Due to our lack of internet over the last few days, we have not been able to post. I will finish typing everything and post the remaining upon our return to the USA. In case you're curious where we'll be - we begin in Bujumbura, Burundi; sit in Kigali, Rwanda for 1 hour; switch planes in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; sit in Rome, Italy for 1 hour; have a 6 hour layover in Washington, DC; have a 2 hour layover in Kansas City, MO; land in Houston, TX around 10 PM; and finally pick up my dog and leave for Austin, TX on Monday. Ta da!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Preview of our beautiful children
It's Kelly's birthday on Friday, so the newest and youngest member at the orphanage, Dezi, decided to sing her a song.
They were playing a clapping game none of us could master (except for maybe Ros).
They were playing a clapping game none of us could master (except for maybe Ros).
A sobering look at Burundi
One of the things about Burundi that has been hard for us to understand is how lush and rich the landscape is, and yet, within that landscape exists extreme poverty. It’s almost hidden by the beauty of the country. Because it is a landlocked country, it is difficult for the country to export any of their natural resources (coffee & tea make up most of the GDP). Tourism could be their greatest resource, but the major issue is a lack of land. To put this in perspective, I’ll compare it to Maryland which is only slightly larger in area -
About 500,000 Burundian refugees are estimated to have returned between 2002-2009. Hundreds of thousands more are expected to return in the next 5 years increasing the demand for land purely for subsistence farming. It’s a tricky problem without an easy answer. Add to this, a 10% orphan population mostly due to HIV/AIDs and a high unemployment rate and you’ve got a whole mess of things to resolve.
If you’re bored/want to educate yourself a bit/like to click on things, here are the sources I used in reference to the above as well as some additional information.
General Facts & Information about Burundi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burundi
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/by.html
Economic Outlook
http://www.africaneconomicoutlook.org/en/countries/east-africa/burundi/
Migration Trends in Burundi (history of the country, refugee movement, and citizen movement)
http://mgsog.merit.unu.edu/ISacademie/docs/CR_burundi.pdf
Refugee Interviews
http://www.irinnews.org/InDepthMain.aspx?InDepthId=16&ReportId=62541
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-08-31-4113265492_x.htm
About 500,000 Burundian refugees are estimated to have returned between 2002-2009. Hundreds of thousands more are expected to return in the next 5 years increasing the demand for land purely for subsistence farming. It’s a tricky problem without an easy answer. Add to this, a 10% orphan population mostly due to HIV/AIDs and a high unemployment rate and you’ve got a whole mess of things to resolve.
If you’re bored/want to educate yourself a bit/like to click on things, here are the sources I used in reference to the above as well as some additional information.
General Facts & Information about Burundi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burundi
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/by.html
Economic Outlook
http://www.africaneconomicoutlook.org/en/countries/east-africa/burundi/
Migration Trends in Burundi (history of the country, refugee movement, and citizen movement)
http://mgsog.merit.unu.edu/ISacademie/docs/CR_burundi.pdf
Refugee Interviews
http://www.irinnews.org/InDepthMain.aspx?InDepthId=16&ReportId=62541
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-08-31-4113265492_x.htm
We’re so far in the future - we celebrate Independence Day July 1st
***This posting was originally typed for July 1st - names and dates have not been modified***
It’s Burundian Independence Day, and for those of you who shamefully do not know the history behind that (tsk tsk tsk) I will give you a quick lesson. And for those of you like my father who will remember this forever, here are the dates. (Seriously, though, what’s wrong with you people? I fear you’re the reason Jeopardy still exists)
1924 - Germany is defeated in WWI and surrenders East African territories to Belgium (modern day Burundi & Rwanda).
October 20, 1924 – This territory becomes a Belgian League of Nations called Ruanda-Urundi.
1940s – People get together, start talking, and powers begin to split.
1948 – Belgium allows them to form political parties (no birthday or tea parties).
1959 – Burundi asks for independence because of ethnic persecution of the Tutsi tribe in Rwanda at the hands of the Hutu tribe.
1960 – Assassinations, parties rise to power, babies are born, older people die, things happen.
July 1st, 1962 – The country claims independence and legally changes its name to Burundi.
Ta-da! Who knew reading this blog might help you get that last piece in Trivial Pursuit.
Scenario:
(a living room at that house with that couple you can’t stand that your spouse/significant other/online date made you eat dinner with and then play the game that never ends)
Smug man with watch fob and monocle: In 1962, which African country declared independence?
You in all your glory: BOOM - Burundi!
(balloons and confetti fall from ceiling)
Ok, onto the festivities. Michael told us it was about a 30 minute walk to the stadium. Ah yes, he meant 30 minutes African time. 30 minutes US time meant that we would have been there about an hour before we were. Did you know that Burundi has the largest sauna (next to Houston) in the world? You probably didn’t. It was actually a very pretty walk, because I’ve decided there isn’t a plant in the world that isn’t growing here. It’s incredible. For some reason, people started asking what certain plants were or what was in that building over there even though there was no way any of us knew. I, however, took this opportunity to take some very educated guesses, and thus began my journey as a Burundi tour guide. Dan, who is an engineer, looks to me to explain the plants (regardless of the fact that I believe I named a tree Shamu from the genus C-whirl), because it gives him peace of mind just knowing there is a name assigned to it.
When we got to the stadium, we found wall to wall people lining the streets as the military marched through the town. You learned about the word Muzungu in a previous post (if not, see posting below). Muzungu is not typically meant as a derogatory term but more of a strange way to point out to others and the white people that they are in fact white. The only thing that makes sense as a comparison is a celebrity walking through a suburban mall. Everyone looks, stares, talks amongst themselves, points, and even calls out who/what (R2-D2) is passing by. Sometimes they follow you just to see what crazy thing you may do next (eg Winona Ryder shoplifting #wishicouldhavebeenthere). For this reason, we try not to draw attention to ourselves, so we split into groups of 2-3. 2-3 Muzungus is a lot less awe-worthy than 8 of them walking together. Since there were so many people, I had Super-tall-Dan capture the military marching:(posting later with pictures - internet is far too slow).
Next, came our trip to Hotel Club du Lac. The hotel is on Lake Tanganyika a lake that has 1/6th of the total water contained in all the lakes around the world. Yes, thank me for that information.
Scenario:
You: I’ll take Bodies of Water for 1000, Alex.
AT: The answer is, “this lake contains 1/6th of all the world’s lake water”.
You: What is, Lake Tanganyika.
(chaos ensues…except you will eventually lose in Final Jeopardy over some trivial question like - “this celebrity once shoplifted from Saks Fifth Avenue“. Hint: it’s Winona Ryder…you clearly weren’t paying attention to this posting)
This resort/hotel is something you might find in Hawaii and is absolutely beautiful. The rooms run from about $150 (if you’re by yourself) – $400 a night. Some said they would feel guilty about staying there, but upon reading more about the hotel I think their feelings shifted. The hotel was built with local labor and the mas con menos philosophy (the most with the least). Through a program of social reintegration, many Bujumbura prisoners made the furniture in the rooms. All of the staff (about 120 people) are skilled, native Burundians. If you’d like to learn more about it check this out.
We ate pizza, sat by the pool, and had a little relaxation time. Nothing too noteworthy except an intense conversation about hippos killing us (mainly driven by Tessa), a nice Muzungu we met from Canada, and a guy windsurfing who I was sure was going to run into the pier at some point, but never did.
We were smart and pre-ordered the buffet dinner (to avoid another 2.5 hour meal) and went to bed early so we could be ready for our long trek to Gitega in the morning.
It’s Burundian Independence Day, and for those of you who shamefully do not know the history behind that (tsk tsk tsk) I will give you a quick lesson. And for those of you like my father who will remember this forever, here are the dates. (Seriously, though, what’s wrong with you people? I fear you’re the reason Jeopardy still exists)
1924 - Germany is defeated in WWI and surrenders East African territories to Belgium (modern day Burundi & Rwanda).
October 20, 1924 – This territory becomes a Belgian League of Nations called Ruanda-Urundi.
1940s – People get together, start talking, and powers begin to split.
1948 – Belgium allows them to form political parties (no birthday or tea parties).
1959 – Burundi asks for independence because of ethnic persecution of the Tutsi tribe in Rwanda at the hands of the Hutu tribe.
1960 – Assassinations, parties rise to power, babies are born, older people die, things happen.
July 1st, 1962 – The country claims independence and legally changes its name to Burundi.
Ta-da! Who knew reading this blog might help you get that last piece in Trivial Pursuit.
Scenario:
(a living room at that house with that couple you can’t stand that your spouse/significant other/online date made you eat dinner with and then play the game that never ends)
Smug man with watch fob and monocle: In 1962, which African country declared independence?
You in all your glory: BOOM - Burundi!
(balloons and confetti fall from ceiling)
Ok, onto the festivities. Michael told us it was about a 30 minute walk to the stadium. Ah yes, he meant 30 minutes African time. 30 minutes US time meant that we would have been there about an hour before we were. Did you know that Burundi has the largest sauna (next to Houston) in the world? You probably didn’t. It was actually a very pretty walk, because I’ve decided there isn’t a plant in the world that isn’t growing here. It’s incredible. For some reason, people started asking what certain plants were or what was in that building over there even though there was no way any of us knew. I, however, took this opportunity to take some very educated guesses, and thus began my journey as a Burundi tour guide. Dan, who is an engineer, looks to me to explain the plants (regardless of the fact that I believe I named a tree Shamu from the genus C-whirl), because it gives him peace of mind just knowing there is a name assigned to it.
When we got to the stadium, we found wall to wall people lining the streets as the military marched through the town. You learned about the word Muzungu in a previous post (if not, see posting below). Muzungu is not typically meant as a derogatory term but more of a strange way to point out to others and the white people that they are in fact white. The only thing that makes sense as a comparison is a celebrity walking through a suburban mall. Everyone looks, stares, talks amongst themselves, points, and even calls out who/what (R2-D2) is passing by. Sometimes they follow you just to see what crazy thing you may do next (eg Winona Ryder shoplifting #wishicouldhavebeenthere). For this reason, we try not to draw attention to ourselves, so we split into groups of 2-3. 2-3 Muzungus is a lot less awe-worthy than 8 of them walking together. Since there were so many people, I had Super-tall-Dan capture the military marching:(posting later with pictures - internet is far too slow).
Next, came our trip to Hotel Club du Lac. The hotel is on Lake Tanganyika a lake that has 1/6th of the total water contained in all the lakes around the world. Yes, thank me for that information.
Scenario:
You: I’ll take Bodies of Water for 1000, Alex.
AT: The answer is, “this lake contains 1/6th of all the world’s lake water”.
You: What is, Lake Tanganyika.
(chaos ensues…except you will eventually lose in Final Jeopardy over some trivial question like - “this celebrity once shoplifted from Saks Fifth Avenue“. Hint: it’s Winona Ryder…you clearly weren’t paying attention to this posting)
This resort/hotel is something you might find in Hawaii and is absolutely beautiful. The rooms run from about $150 (if you’re by yourself) – $400 a night. Some said they would feel guilty about staying there, but upon reading more about the hotel I think their feelings shifted. The hotel was built with local labor and the mas con menos philosophy (the most with the least). Through a program of social reintegration, many Bujumbura prisoners made the furniture in the rooms. All of the staff (about 120 people) are skilled, native Burundians. If you’d like to learn more about it check this out.
We ate pizza, sat by the pool, and had a little relaxation time. Nothing too noteworthy except an intense conversation about hippos killing us (mainly driven by Tessa), a nice Muzungu we met from Canada, and a guy windsurfing who I was sure was going to run into the pier at some point, but never did.
We were smart and pre-ordered the buffet dinner (to avoid another 2.5 hour meal) and went to bed early so we could be ready for our long trek to Gitega in the morning.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Coming Soon...
Posts about:
Burundi Independence Day (delayed from 7/1)
Why Burundi is the love child of Colorado and Hawaii (delayed from 7/2)
How I wish I could break my promise to my parents (or, why I may be coming home with a child in tow)
Featuring:
The Gazelle Players
The beautiful children at Future Hope School
Our bus and driver
Gilbert's hospitable cousin
The bright pink comforter in my hotel room
The wonderful people of Gitega
The strangely placed windows
Feel free to hit the subscribe via e-mail to receive a notification when a new post is up. EO Corporation does not sell or distribute your private e-mail address*.
*except for million dollar offers
Burundi Independence Day (delayed from 7/1)
Why Burundi is the love child of Colorado and Hawaii (delayed from 7/2)
How I wish I could break my promise to my parents (or, why I may be coming home with a child in tow)
Featuring:
The Gazelle Players
The beautiful children at Future Hope School
Our bus and driver
Gilbert's hospitable cousin
The bright pink comforter in my hotel room
The wonderful people of Gitega
The strangely placed windows
Feel free to hit the subscribe via e-mail to receive a notification when a new post is up. EO Corporation does not sell or distribute your private e-mail address*.
*except for million dollar offers
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