in memory of my friend Alfredo Obure

Alfredo celebrating his PhD defense

Today I learned that my friend, Dr. Alfredo Obure, died. He was 33. He leaves behind his wife and two young children. Alfredo recently received his PhD. Alfredo was the first in his family (and his village) to earn a PhD. Here he is with his dissertation.

and with colleagues, moments after successfully defending his thesis:
and with his wife:

Alfredo and I visited a few rural schools together and, during the long car rides, we got to know one another. We called our friendship a tribute to qualitative research and anthropology. We both asked very blunt questions about one another's upbringings (his is rural Kenya, mine in suburban America). Here is Alfredo with a handwashing station at a rural school:

We also wrote news articles together, such as this one:

I can't find words to describe how sad it feels to know that Alfredo is gone. The world has lost someone who was a tireless advocate for the poor, someone who showed young boys and girls that education could catapult you to new horizons.

Alfredo, I'll miss our g-chats and e-mails. I'll miss your irreverant humor and gentle chides. Most of all, I will miss your giant smile and whole-hearted laugh.

Shannon

Christmas Cade

Hi all!

I'm taking a break from blogging for a couple of weeks. Here is a pic of my favorite elf, Cade!

See you in a few weeks little man!

And, Dad, you look great!

Shannon

A room with a view

I was in Morogoro the other day and woke up to this view:

My Tanzanian colleagues saw me taking pictures and started laughing.

"What?" I said.

"You are photographing a cloudy mountain."

pause

"Men, I am from Illinois. Illinois is flatter than a chapati. Hills and mountains are a big deal!"

xo

Shannon

Hippos in Ruaha National Park

Admittedly hippos are low on my list of animals. Maybe it's the stubby legs. The enormous belly. The fact that they swoosh their tails to spray their excrement while pooping. Oh- or get this- they're known for killing people and their own babies.

Anyway! Enough hating on hippos. On the bright side, Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is a really great word.

Here are some photos of Hippos in Ruaha (for those of you who lovingly mentioned that seeing my toes in the last post was a little less than thrilling)...

This is to give an idea of where our lunch stop was in relation to the water where the hippos were:

Those things that look like logs in the water are hippos! Sorry they look so tiny!

A pod. Male bulls can have up to, like, 30 ladies. This guy was not such a stud.

More photos from Ruaha to come. Elephants etc.

xo

Shannon

Recently in Ruaha

Almost every tourist who comes to Tanzania makes three stops: Serengeti Park, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar. These are the "biggies," with scenes straight out of Hemingway novels and National Geographic magazines. They're also in more accessible parts of the country, the North and Coast.

To see where I live, in Southern Tanzania's highlands, tourists must spend a valuable day or two on the road. For that reason, they don't come. Foreigners in Iringa remain a novelty. Here's a typical view of the Southern Highlands:

Last week, I was reminded of this seclusion when I went on a safari in Ruaha National Park with my Japanese friend Shingo (who I have referred to as Neck as his name is Swahili for Neck). Shingo and I drove through the park for two days and saw just two other vehicles.

The safari was Shingo's idea and he prepared with panache. In honor of Japan, we molded rice balls and steamed okra for lunch. Here are the rice ball making supplies.

This a completed rice ball. You just put sushi paper on the bottom and - voila - tasty goodness.

We packed up the rice balls and other materials and drove into the park. This is where we stopped for lunch. It's on the banks of a river full of flubby, bubbling, belching hippos.

Another view from the lunch stop:

In order to get a good view, we popped open the roof of the truck and stood on our seats. Like this:

And then we realized how infintely more fun it was to sit on top of the truck, like this:

It was like a safari roller coaster! Here's a picture I took while sitting on the top of the truck (still nowhere near as tall as this giraffe): Later, the rain came. You can see the rain in left side of the photo below. Shingo was kinda bummed about the rain. To cheer him up - and in honor of America - I insisted that we start singing songs by his favorite performer, Madonna. So the rain poured down and Shingo and I stayed on top of the truck singing Karaoke versions of Rain, Ray of Light, Lucky Star and Jump.

It was Karaoke on safari! Midway through Lucky Star, Shingo pointed out that Karaoke is a Japanese tradition. In fact, the word Karaoke is Japanese for "singing without orchestra" or "empty bucket." Ah, how cultures can collide in the middle of rural Africa.

After the rain, we returned to a campsite and watched the moon rise. I had never seen a moonrise and it made my heart stop. In the middle of the night, an adult male elephant stopped by our banda while grazing. This too was a first-time experience. My heart stopped again and I'm pretty sure I peed in my pants. Nevertheless, it was incredible.

Here's a photo of me. The only one from the day. I'll try to get better about putting pics of myself on here, per some of your requests. :)

xo

Shannon