1. South Africa Communication is Dead

        "The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place." ~George Bernard Shaw   A few weeks ago, Woody went to into our host mom's house to “top up” electricity on our meter box. The conversation that proceeded went a bit like the old vaudeville joke by Abbott and Costello “Who's on First?” Here is the conversation that occurred between Woody and our host mom:   Host mom: Do you have film? “Ni vone kamareni” I saw it in the bedroom. Woody: “U lav...

  2. Bulgaria Community Service Project

    Community Service Project in Kneja, Bulgaria.

  3. Kenya Ah, the Good Life

    This has been an amazing weekend. I had had a mildly stressful week. Everything just ganged up on me and tried to drag me down; the bicycle breaking repeatedly, the last time hopefully for good so I can have an excuse to get a new one, the desert getting even hotter than normal which is totally not fair, having guests and a new neighbor coming over to my house twice a day all week thereby destroying any semblance of privacy I used to pretend I had, and one of my fellow volunteers ET-in...

  4. Kenya Love my students!

    Great pic of my students and me!

  5. Kenya Friends

    Some of the girls.

  6. Kenya Students and friends

    My students whom I adore

  7. Kenya Mama Said There'll Be Days Like This

    I am having a rough week. On my way to school Wednesday, my bicycle broke. I was riding downhill when I heard a loud SNAP and knew I was in trouble. I know what you are thinking, “Ryan, you already told us this story”. Unfortunately, and frustratingly, I am not repeating myself. My bicycle broke AGAIN. For the third time in two weeks. I spend most of my time pushing the damn thing to and from school. It is really starting to annoy me. I fixed the brakes last week, rode the thing for a ...

  8. Kenya Speaking of Things that are Sharp....

    I only have a few minutes to write before I have to go to school. It is a little after six, I have been lazy lately and not getting up at 5 like I should. I wake up at five and then hang around reading in bed hoping to wake myself up enough to stumble out of bed. It never works and I am trying to find new ways to convince my body that 7 hours is plenty of sleep. I have always been an eight hours of sleep type person and my body absolutely hates me for cutting back to 5 or 6 hrs. But tod...

  9. Azerbaijan Keeping Up

    Hired helpers were trying to keep up at an Azeri village wedding.

  10. South Africa Village Traditions

      Traditional Shangaan Muchongolo dancing in the village. There is a local dance troupe who performs the Muchongolo dances each Sunday in a different village in our area. Woody and I were lucky enough to catch one of these performances. The Shangaan people originate from Mozambique and are known more for being agriculturalists than pastoralists and cattle herders. The Muchongolo dances traditionally celebrate the role of women in society, war victories, as well as ritual ceremonies.

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“Sunset at the Railroad” by PCV Nicholas Baylor Hall. Namibia, 2011.