See films in a different way

african painters

http://africanpainters.blogspot.com/

Tanzania

Interesting thought from Rebecca in this post: here.

We were in class making clocks. Okay, so you need a circle to make a clock, no probs, there are compasses for such things, well that is if you are in a school in the West. We don’t have compasses so I found round things for the student teachers to trace around. They weren’t really big enough but I thought we could make do.

Well to save myself some embarrassment I really should have asked the students for their ideas first because after I had handed out the things for them to trace and given a detailed explanation of the problem they set to work – completely ignoring everything I had said.

I watched as they were folding paper. Hummm, I didn’t remember talking about using folded paper, but then I saw it. Did you know that if you fold a piece of paper several times, put a hole in either end and then use one pencil as the centre point of the circle in one hole and the other pencil to draw in the other hole you can move the folded paper and make a perfect circle? Well I didn’t. I was quite impressed though and told them so, to which they all laughed, not being able to believe I didn’t know that.

To make it worse I came home and told Patrick all about what I learned today. Well he listened patiently and then laughed. I asked why he was laughing and he answered by telling me about another 5 ways one could draw a circle with no compass or model to trace.

It is quite a clever little trick, really.
It kind of talks to what I mentioned after Christmas:

It's so interesting, living here in Africa for a short time to see the good and bad effects of westernism. In some ways it is fantastic to see an attempt to advance the education system of Tanz, and a goal to push the millions of students to a high level of education, and to increase the number of children able to attend High-school (a tiny amount at the moment). But, of course, it is also a danger as we will probably (unknowingly) impart some unhelpful parts of our culture onto them if we aren't not careful. - Dec 26

Its a great privilege to still be doing some work for The Joshua Foundation via the internet while here in New Zealand, as well. I have been working on some sponsorship cards for them, and doing other little graphic design bits.

Ascapapa

I haven't had much time at all on my hands these past few weeks. I am heading in towards the end of my Bachelor of Graphic Design, so the pressure is really on, plus the fact that I have had major issues with my computer the last week to keep me very busy.

A friend and I were talking about escapism the other day. He is interested in escapism in the area of computer games. He was thinking that because people in the world aren't happy, they use certain computer games to escape this world and enter another, where you can be whomever you want, and forget about this life for a moment. He knows people who literally work eat and play computer games. That is their life. He himself finds escapism through computer games an important part of his life, which help him maintain his sanity.
I heard someone say once, in an old recording somewhere online, (it was possibly Billy Graham) that escapism isn't a bad thing. In fact it seems to be a important part of the lives of all humans. We watch movies, read books, listen to music, play computer games, to take our minds off reality, amongst other thing. It can become a negative thing, especially when taken to the extreme. And what does escapism tell us about ourselves? This is a fundamental question which, I believe, points us towards the eternal.

Interesting thought

‘Why don’t you change these stones into bread. Because if you change these stones into bread the whole world will follow you.’

Satan makes a fallacious assumption. The fallacious assumption he makes is that if God would be our constant miracle maker materially, and satisfy all our intellectual needs, the whole world would turn and follow him. Time and Time again in history we learn that some of the most vile indecencies and criminal acts have not come from men and women whose stomachs were empty, but men and women whose stomachs were full. Learning and understanding, does not amount to goodness. See: Germany and the Holocaust.

Hobart Mauer
Prof at Harvard
‘For several decades we psychologists have looked upon the whole matter of sin and moral accountability as a great incubus, and acclaimed our liberation from sin as epoch making, but at length have discovered that to be free from sin- that is to have the excuse of being sick, rather than sinful- is to court the danger of also becoming lost. This danger, I believe, is betoken by the wide spread interest in existentialism which we are presently witnessing. In becoming amoral, ethically neutral and free, we have cut the very roots of our being, lost our deepest sense of selfhood and identity, and with, neurotics themselves, find ourselves asking who am I, what is my deepest destiny, and what does living really mean.’

Read these after the sequence posted below this one

Here are some recent drawings I've been doing. I am planning/working towards my end of year exhibition at AUT for the finale of my degree, so I want to do the best work I can. These are basically explorations of technique and medium. They are mirrored on my online sketchbook at Conceptart

Movies

I receive a newletter which reviews recently released movies from a Christian perspective called Christianity Today Movies. It offers a good and contrasting perspective from most other critics and allows readers to decide if watching a particular movie is a) worth their time, b) worth their money, c) morally decent and a good movie to take your kids to.

They recently reviewed the movie Sex in the City and, predictably, received much enmity as a result for daring to review such a movie. Here is the gist of the responses and the editor’s response:

"How can any Christian who takes the Bible seriously want to watch (or review) Sex and the City?"

"Anyone who could actually find something redeeming in [Sex and the City] is too awfully familiar with the world."

"Sex and the City is a pornographic film. You should either abandon your stated Christian aims and mission statement, or stop condoning pornography."

"Is this really Christianity Today??? Are you guys really serious about Jesus, the Bible, holiness, and biblical truth?"

And so went some of the letters we received in response to last week's review of Sex and the City. (There were a bunch of positive letters too, so please check them out as well.)

We totally understand why many people would have no desire to see Sex and the City, choosing to avoid it because of its portrayals of pre- and extra-marital sex and rampant materialism. I myself have no desire to see it, mostly for those reasons.

But to slam us for reviewing the film makes no sense. Our mission statement is to help readers make discerning choices about movies—not to make the choices for people. Our review clearly warned readers of the sinful behavior in the movie, while also noting some of its redeeming factors—like the universal longing for love and companionship, what it means to be a true friend, and more.

But some folks believe that when it comes to a movie like Sex and the City, there should be no choice—they've decided that no one should see it, period ... at least no one who calls themselves a Christian. They think we should essentially have a three-word review: "Don't watch it!" But that's not what we're about. We trust our readers to make their own decisions; we won't make those decisions for anyone.

But here's another reason for reviewing SATC and other uncomfortable films: It's good to sometimes enter into the minds and worldviews of others, even of those we completely disagree with. Occasionally, it can even be helpful to see what the world looks like through the eyes of the depraved.

Do those words make you uncomfortable? Or angry? Don't blame me, then. Blame C.S. Lewis, because they're essentially his words.

In his book, An Experiment in Criticism, Lewis writes, "We therefore delight to enter into other men's beliefs ... even though we think them untrue. And into their passions, though we think them depraved ... And also into their imaginations, though they lack all realism of content."

Lewis is writing mostly in the context of reading books and poetry, but his thoughts on criticism apply just as well to film—or any art form, for that matter. He continues: "This must not be understood as if I were making the literature of power once more into a department which existed to gratify our rational curiosity about other people's psychology. It is not a question of knowing (in that sense) at all. It is connaître not savoir; it is erleben; we become these other selves. Not only nor chiefly in order to see what they are like but in order to see what they see, to occupy, for a while, their seat in the great theatre, to use their spectacles and be made free of whatever insights, joys, terrors, wonders, or merriment those spectacles reveal ...

"This, so far as I can see, is the specific value or good of literature considered as Logos; it admits us to experiences other than our own. ... Those of us who have been true readers all our life seldom fully realise the enormous extension of our being which we owe to authors." (Or, I might add, movie directors.) "We realise it best when we talk with an unliterary friend. He may be full of goodness and good sense but he inhabits a tiny world. In it, we should be suffocated. The man who is contented to be only himself, and therefore less of a self, is in prison. My own eyes are not enough for me, I will see through the eyes of others. Reality, even seen through the eyes of many, is not enough. I will see what others have invented. ... In reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with a myriad eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do."

That, dear readers, is why we review "objectionable" movies. Because our eyes "are not enough for me." We will "see through the eyes of others" and yet "remain" ourselves. It's our own "experiment in criticism." If that kind of thinking is good enough for C.S. Lewis, it's certainly good enough for us.

I find the Editor, Mark Moring, makes a good point- backed up with Lewis’ words, a great point.

Thus said, I am aware we need to be aware of what we feed our eyes. The visual has become almost all powerful- it can overpower our reason and beliefs with out us noticing. Lewis is writing about a different medium, which has lost a lot of power in popular culture in the last fifty years, but is still significant.

book list

Reading list of 2008 as of today.

1. The Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
2. Collected stories by Katherine Mansfield
3. Empire of the sun by J G Ballard
4. Consider Phlebas by Iain M Banks
5. Travels with my Aunt by Graham Greene
6. Waking the dead by John Elderedge
7. Beasts by Carol Joyce Oats
8. War fever by J G Ballard
9. The Orchid Keeper by Cormac McCarthy
10. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carol
11. The New Weird edited by Jeff Vandermeer
12. All the pretty horses by Cormac McCarthy
13. The Club of Queer Trades by G K Chesterton
14. Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb
15. The Nigger and the Narcissus by Joseph Conrad
16. The book of the New Sun: Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe
17. Use of Weapons by Iain M Banks
18. Excession by Iain M Banks
19. Screwtape proposes a toast by C S Lewis
20. Sons of Heaven by Lawrence Chen
21. Atonement by Iain McEwan
22. A House for Mr. Biswas by V S Naipaul

~22 books in aprox 6 months.....pretty good ones as well, most of them anyway. Some, like Beasts by Oats, Excession by Banks, were possibly not worth the time, but otherwise, all the books are quite recommended.

Oh, wow, I've had 100 posts on this blog as of today. I never thought I would keep this up for so long, but it has become a pool for thoughts and things I thought people might appreciate me sharing. Just a note for Kathleen, to get to my few pages of posts while in Africa, here is the link:
here

Here's A picture I found amusing, seeming some friends of mine in Tanzania said they once saw a pet Hyena as a guard for a snake zoo, of all places.... Crazy Africa.

Anyway, I'm completely bogged down with a few big assignments, but one of them which is an illustration project I will be uploading onto this blog- in about a week most likely, as I have not time to do any scanning until then.

Until then, here's something I've been thinking about:

If life is simple, why is life simple?
If life is complicated, why is life complicated?

Online comic trial

Larger trialSmaller trial

Dogs and Zombies

I love Dogs.
When I came back from Africa Max was so happy to see me. He bounded around the yard, his long cocker spaniel ears flapping, ecstatic. He's getting on in his years, is old max, and is almost eleven now, which is quite old for cocker's, but he showed a huge amount of physical enthusiasm, including sleeping outside my door instead of in his bead, for a week. One thing I have to say is that he is a very very faithful friend, and unchanging in his attitude towards me. His eyesight is fading, and sometimes I wake him up as I come in from town. Typically he won't recognize me, and bark, but when he hears my voice he will look very very embarrassed, his eyes and ears will drop, and he'll slink back to his bed in shame. It is a great fallacy for a Dog to turn on his friend/boss.
I watched a movie called I am legend the other night.
I was really expecting to be bored by a typical, if well done, zombie movie, but had been recommended the film by a few friends, so watched. I found it, unlike some people I've talked to, quite deeply moving. Now I won't give away any plot details (as I am notorious for doing), but the story began very simply about a man alone as the only human in Manhattan, and New York for that matter, who hadn't been infected by a terrible virus. Alone that is except for his faithful dog. The two spend their time together, and he, of course, is trying to crack the virus in a lab under his house. It is basically about a man who gives up his family, his friends, all his life to find s cure, and his absolute humanness- he almost gives up many times, but in the end stays true to his cause. There is a surprising number of acknowledgments of God or as Will Smith (the main character) says 'The God', about how God could ever let a thing like that terrible virus exist which virtually wiped out the human race. He ends up saying, rather powerfully I think, 'God didn't do this, We did this.'
Anyway, the relationship between Will Smith and his Dog is the most moving aspect of the movie for me. She is a German Shepard, and obviously a very intelligent dog. I spent quite a bit of time with German Shepard's in Tanzania, some puppies and some guard dogs, and they are now my favorite dog. After max of course.

My 21st Birthday was awesome to all those who came, thanks!

Thin Red Line

Have you watched The Thin Red Line directed by Terrance Malick?
I really like it, its my favourite movie in fact, and a major reason for this is the narrator's philosophical exploration of war with a monologue which runs throughout the whole movie, and sometimes merges into other men's voices.

There is something very deep and searching in the few seconds of this video clip, and propels me to want to know more of God, who he is, how he continues to overwhelm me in wonder. As a Christian, will there ever be a time when I don't feel like there is so much more to him that I have barely begun to know who he is, although I've named myself his follower for most of my life.

Square

I'm currently reading a book called Sons of heaven by Terrence Chang, which is about Tienanmen square, and the massacre there in 1989.

These videos speak for themselves.

William Faulkner's nobel speach

In the middle of the 20th century William Faulkner recieved the Nobel Prize for literature. In his speach upon recieving the reward he said the following:

It is easy enough to say that man is immortal simply because he will endure; that when the last ding-dong of doom has clanged and faded from the last worthless rock hanging tideless in the last red and dying evening, that even then there will still be one more sound: that of his own puny inexhaustible voice. I refuse to accept this. I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he along among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The poet's, the writer's, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilage to help man endure by lifting up his heart, by reminding him of the courage and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past. The poet's voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.

I think Faulkner, here, is saying something significant which is in constant jeopardy in our time . I very much agree with him that there are elements of our Humanness which are significant and lasting, somethings that cannot die. The history of our courage against the odds, for example, is something unique to humankind. Yet will we prevail, merely out of the power of this soul, this spirit within us? I acknowledge that we each contain this immortal thing, this power of life, this soul and spirit, but will it prevail? I think not.

And if it is there, where did it come from? Is it another habit of chance, a game of randomness? Who will account for it's presence in us? Why do we have it? There must be answers to these questions. In the airport in Bangkok a few thoughts came to me. Why haven't ants developed their system of Monarchy into democracy? Why don't monkey's build cities? Why don't dogs launch organized attacks against the kingdom of cats?

Faulkner is right. There is something powerful in us, something everlasting. But will it last? The dichotomy of good and evil is definitive, so if we are to account for our actions, what will become of our souls? Will all our good deeds (courage and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice) make up for our bad deeds (violence, hatred, lust, impurity)? I think not.

In Faulkner's reference to a writer's & poet's responsibility, I agree that there is something that needs to be held up, to be remembered in this age. How long is it since I heard someone use the word courage in a casual conversation, or the word purity, chastity, honour, compassion. I believe when we as a society forget these ideals, we are in danger of forgetting/loosing our souls. And the soul is dangerously forgotten.

Online Sketchbooks

This is a long overdue post which links you (whomever that may be) to my online sketchbooks. The first, older one I started quite a while ago, while the new one I've only just started a week ago.

The main-course sketchbook (new SB)

The entree sketchbook (older SB- now no longer being updated)

please enjoy and keep an eye on the new one if you wish, as I will be updating it regularly this year.

My latest project for my degree

This is a little 9sec video about me. It is a combination of flash animation and hand-drawn stop animation. The content should be self-explanitary after a few watches, but it's basically about creativity. It was a long process and I had to say a lot in 9 seconds, which is hard work let me tell you. But great, great fun, in the end.

Mad TV- crazy crazy date

Only in Asia

History

It is amazing how disconnected our contemporary 1st world culture/post-modern culture is from history in a knowledgeable sense, yet is still linked back in to history through stories, narrative, books. For many of us a history book is a closed book, while novels (and movies, the like) are open accepted, so long as they connect with us right 'Now'.

At a time when history still made its way slowly, the few events were easily remembered and woven into a backdrop, known to everyone, before which private life unfolded the gripping show of its adventures. Nowadays, time moves forward at a rapid pace. Forgotten overnight, a historic event glistens the next day like the morning dew and thus is no longer the backdrop to a narrator's tale but rather an amazing adventure enacted against the background of the overfamiliar banality of private life.

Milan Kundera, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting -

Quote taken from http://ofblog.blogspot.com/

Borges

I've been reading Jorge Luis Borges.
Have you heard of him? He is a deceased Spanish author who sets many of his writings in Buenes Aires.

He is concerned with mirrors, labyrinths, mysteries and books, with repetitions in reality, in remakes and renaming.

He only wrote short fiction, never a novel. But each short piece seems to contain world's of it's own, stories of it's own, a history of it's own. When I read them on a sleepy, sunny afternoon, as I drift to sleep his stories enter my dreams, and suddenly I am the writer or these labyrinthine glimpses of infinite imaginations.

Highly recommended.

addictive tv - great stuff

Just watch how they use simple cut and paste techniques to build up to something original and rather fun. As soon as it starts to get boring they add more layers.

The stars

One constant position of awe I hold is for the wonder of the stars. Its good, sometimes, to remember just how small we are in comparison to the rest of the universe.

I think my love for science fiction comes from my paternal granddad. I didn't realise it until last year that he was a lover of science fiction, with the dune books by Frank Herbert, the Foundation series omnibus by Isaac Asimov, and H. G. Well's complete stories sitting on dusty shelves amongst a few others. To be sure most of his books are more of the action/adventures of novels his time, with authors such as James Clavell and Leon Uris scattered about. Its sad that his eye sight is fading, and it becomes painful for him to read for more than a few hours a day. But it reminds me how temporary this life is compared to the stars, the galaxies, and compared to the wonder of eternity.

Click on the images to enlarge.

Topsy the Elephant

I know this is a little sick, but....
This is a very old recording, one of the earliest recordings onto film by Thomas Edison, of the Execution of Topsy the elephant.
Typical of the Victorian era, Topsy was publically sentenced to death for the murder of three trainers. here trainer had tried to feed her a burning cigarette, of course, but that didn't seem to be of any help for poor Topsy's case.
First they tried to poison her, but it didn't work. Then they decided to hang her. Can you believe it?
But Thomas Edison convinced them to electrocute her, which was actually a good thing as it only took a few seconds for her to die.
We watched this film in class a while back, and there's no blood or anything, but don't watch it if you are a bit sensitive to animal execution.

The BEST

In my class 'Who are You', which sounds like a self-discovery course, but is actually a self promotion class, we have been challenged by our teacher to promote our selves, if its the last thing we do. He gave us the common talk on how we are going out into the real world, where jobs are outnumbered by graduates from all over NZ, and theres no way we could all get graphic design jobs. he talked about money money money for a while, then about what makes a employer choose you over someone else (specifically mentioning that married people have a harder time, and married females even more so. Was his message don't get married? I haven't worked that out yet).
Anyway, some people may have found it motivating, but I found it off putting. In many ways I still see my drawings and work as art, as opposed to a commercial commodity.

A few days later I presented a mood board for the concept we were going to use in a self-promo video, and failed miserably. I had it all in my head, but when we were going around and critiquing other classmate's boards I realized how pragmatic he was in the critiques. There was no interest in subtle messages, or a meaning or message, but a whole lot on what it blatantly said about you. While I was trying to discuss place and mood, he was more interested in something that made you unique, such as the way you like graffiti and do in the summer beekeeping.

Ok, Maybe I missed the point, but this way of looking at the world seems so lifeless to me. Absolute pragmatism gets on my nerves, as does an obsession about being the best at making good money in whatever niche you're in. I believe you should aim to be the best at what you do, but that this desire should not revolve around money.

What do you think?

Post-script: I have just upped another book review, this time for Cormac McCarthy's All the pretty horses. check it out here on my other blog.

Two more reviews

Two more book reviews are up on my book review blog, check em out.

Illustration Project

Its been raining on and off.
I'm probably starting a project at university on the character Rupert the Bear, has anyone heard of him? He is a 1950's children's book character:




















As you can probably see the line work is superb and I am lucky enough to have a few old annuls of my mothers, albeit that they are falling to pieces and often have pages missing, and looking on the net I see I could make a few hundred dollars out of them if I were to put them up for collector's items- though I never would. This interesting bear spend his days on strange mythical adventures with mermaids, or in cities underground, and the authors use descriptive text and poetic descriptions to explain what exactly is going on in the pictures.

Another option is to do the character of Jesus as illustrated by Brian Wildsmith in the book The Bible story. He is also very well illustrated and uses many powerful and the bright colours of the late sixties, and the beautiful lines which are fluid but simple. Click on the image to see what I mean.

My final option is Tintin, a fantastic character, very close to my heart, and hugely influential in many areas of illustration and narrative but possibly an overdone subject.
















end.

Book reviews

I have put a new book review up on my other blog on the book Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks. Also there is a few thoughts about C. S. Lewis' Narnia books. Check it out.

a very strange and haunting true story

This is



http://www.jeffvandermeer.com/2008/02/17/new-weird-contest-winner-divers-hands-the-pied-piper-of-the-parking-garage/



Something you should check out.
It piqued my imagination anyway...

Back from Africa

After a long bus ride, a flight to Thailand, a wait in the Bangkok airport for seven hours, another plane trip for over twelve hours, through customs and the NZ biological security check in Auckland airport, I arrived back in NZ. After I have written this post I'm going to read over my blog for the last three months, and I'm sure its going to be interesting to look back on all that I noted.
Its lovely to get back to the New Zealand summer, with its cool winds, occasional showers, cicadas, swimming at pools, having dinner on the veranda and even mum's many chickens clucking around the yard. The afternoons are sleepy, and at last I'm having my summer holiday sleep-ins. Mind you, although Africa was a little full on in some ways, it was definitely more relaxed on the whole, and as PC says in Kituo, "it's back to the rat race".

Anyways, I will be showing a sideshow some time soon, once I have my films developed, and have organized them a little. But here are some pictures I thought I might put up.




This is Patrick, a Congolese pastor married to an Australian lady who live together as newly-weds on the Joshua base, and I having a good go at mixing Ugali. Hard work actually!















We have a shredded tire on my second trip to Magugu to finish off the sponsorship photos (as you can see if you zoom in a little on the tire), and it was a bit of a mission to work out how to set the jack up as it was too small to lift the car high enough to replace the kaput wheel. A new experience in the Pit Stop for me :)




This is the whole en-gedi team while I was there, click on the image to get a better view.



A few friends I made.








Sunset on the beach of Zanzibar, a beautiful place. I'll put more photos up later of this exotic location











Yep, I held a snake at the Mezerani snake park!

















These are some dear little girls from the Joshua pre-school with their mothers during 'music hour'.

Kenya on the 28th of Jan

finale finale

Well, in the middle of a final week, the time seems to fly. Last night I had my last team dinner, which we have every week on tuesday nights. Everyone from all the different houses on the base get together at on families house, so its a full on feed, lots of kai from different countries etc.
It was nice because the team gave me some gifts (a Massai blanke, a kikoi, some african tea, and an nice African shirt) and said some kind things bout me and finally prayed for me and my future. Then we had desert as a bit of a finale'

Tomorrow I'm going to Magugu with Lynda, Patrick who is a Congolese pastor and his wife Rebbecca who is Australian. Its going to be great to have a last taste of Africa before bundling everything up, catching a bus, two planes, and (I guess) a van ride back to 13 Watea rd, Mt. Albert, Auckland, South Pacific, Southern hemisphere, the world, sitting in Gods hand.

This weekend I am going for a walk with Josh out to the village to visit Eframe (whom dad will remember). I will be getting up early Saturday morning to cook French toast for the Carstensens. By the way I have picked up a few African recipes which I will be trying out back home. Then after the morning at the base on Sunday, I will be catching the Impala bus up to Nairobi.

um, yup, so I don't think I will be updating my blog again unless I'm really bored, that is until I am back on Ateorua soil.

So, thanks for journeying with me, I'm sorry if the last few post have been a bit droll, thanks a million to those who posted comments and connected me with home etc.

-_- :D *) 8) (-_-")

saturday's a lazy day

Weelll,
I am totally over my stomach problems, and the sun is heating upi the atmoshpere here in Arusha. It was hot yesterday and it is proving to be hot today.
I've been giving guitar lessons, designing advertisements, working out new worship songs for the 'song book', spending time with my family over here, and reading.
I've been reading Katherine Mansfield's short stories and they are just fantastic, I highly recommend.

I have also been invited to go down to Magugu again at the end of next week(thursday and friday), which will be great. I will be finishing off the photos we didn't have time to complete last week, and it will really be the last thing I'll do before I leave.

Africa is such a huge place, but its easy to forget, because everyone is so local, and communal. When I look over the balchony in the evenings it seems such a normal landscape compared to the sight it seemed when I first arrived. I guess everything will look a bit different when I get back hoome, too.

Inescts, Africa, and only two weeks left!

Two weeks and I will be on a plane on the way home to NZ, God willing of course.
I'm really trying to make the most of my time here, especially spending time with the people here, like the Carstensens (who I live and eat with) and the Mooses (who live in the same house) and all the others. The training teachers are back to begin study tomorrow morning, and I can't wait to spend some more time with my African Brothers and Sisters. Hamisi, who I teach guitar to, has already organised a lesson for tomorrow via text message.
I saw a snake yesterday morning, the first I've seen in the wild here in Africa, although I've seen them before (in the wild) in China. It was just slipping into a rabbit hole as I saw it, brown and probably a harmless garden snake. I'm going to miss the lovely weather here I think, and the wild life, and the amazing smell after rain. But, before I get too sentimental, I better remind myself I have a whole two weeks left.

I am on antibiotics for this stomache problem, the doctor reckened it is bad bacteria. This is my third cycle of antibiotics since I have been here; One for every month!

The insects here are amazing. I was just sitting under a tree yesterday, reading The Sword in the Stone by T. H. White, and I began to notice the interesting insect life all arround me. The red earth was covered with browns crickets about half a fingers length in size, and they clicked their wings as the made huge leaps here and there. When they landed they often burrowed in the soft ground, or sat rubbing their legs together, looking constipated. I noticed a small bug that looked like a crayfish with no tail and it was perfectly camoflaged in the dirt but walking in my direction. I poked him with a stick and he immediately played dead, and stayed dead no matter what I did to him. I looked away for a minute and couldn't find him again as he looked so much like a piece of dirt. A centipede like insect with yellow stripes, and as small as a twinky fingernail, climbed up on a tiny clover and looked at me for five minutes. He was just building up the confidence to introduce himself when nature called me away. Pole sana

quick post

Hey, I have Only a quick chance to post today - Im going to dinner in a minute
i've been feeling decidedly sick today, and took the day off the work I'm doing.I'm going in to the medical center tomorrow...
Its really good to hear from Toni and Roger, I replied in the comments.
Ann and Grant Maxwell arrived at En Gedi today, whom some of you will know. I'm looking forward to meeting them again.
A black snake was seen and chased off yesterday, close to where I work everyday, possibly and spitting Cobra...nice huh?
Tensions and riots have increased in Kenya! Check out the NYtimes...
Ok, I'm off to eat some fried bannanas now, yum!

Back form Magugu

I've been away from Arusha for the last two days. I went on a trip to the school connected with the Joshua Foundation started by Lynda Steevenson, but run by Tanzanian teachers in the town of Magugu called The Joshua Primary and Secondary School. It takes about 3 hours drive to get there, and a lot of it on a gravel road. Magugu is a hot little town, filled with people and cockroaches. The school is a pre-school, primary and secondary school, with form 2 being introduced this year. I went down with Lynda and a girl called Justine, the main reason being to take photos of every student there to send back to their sponsers (just like world vision does every year). We didn't finish the job, but got through a huge hunk. Its was HOT down there, nothing like this rather temperate Arusha which gets the rains coming down off Mt. Meru.

So it was a couple of days of pure African meals, and the accomodation Ngorongoru Hotel was typical of an outback guesthouse, with cockroaches which hiss at you when you go to use the log drop, not running water, and is a little notorious for theives. I enjoyed it though. The best part of the trip was just to spend time with all the kids, and practice a lot of swahili, especially saying 'Cheka' which means 'smile'. The kids really knew how to smile, too. They kind of exploded with huge cheesy grins. The kids struck me as being so unaware and naive, very amazed at the sight of Wazungu (Foreigners), especially if they were just new to the school, as the little kids might never have seen a white person before.

One of my friends, Immanuel, who I made at En Gedi, who is training to be a teacher, lives very close to the school and he came over and invited Justine and I to go to his house. Before we knew it we were being fed a full on dinner, with Ugali, chicken, and all. Justine, who was quite aprehensive of the whole thing was doing very well considering, until Immanuel seemed to expect us to eat some of the little fish called Telapia his sister had cooked. I wasn't feeling hungry after eating the chicken's neck, but he was obviously expecting us to eat a fish at least, so I suggested to Justine we split it. She said ok, and I cut it in half with my spoon, and gave here the top half, which was mostly head. She looked at me with a fixed grin and wide eyes, as if to say 'what are you doing', but I paid no attention and just did my part of eating the bottom half. Immanuel had no idea that we were struggling silently, and the whole situation was so funny I just about burst out laughing.

Anyway, there were many more interesting situations from the trip which I won't bother posting up here because I'm not feeling that well today, and have a tummy ache. I've had the Runs again, and although I'm gulping down the Charchol tablets which often do a good job of corking you up, I haven't had much fun the last three days. I think I have a cold as well, which is strange because it's definitely not cold.

Oh, yeah, we saw a dead Hyena on the road on the way back home. We though it was a pig, but as we drove past it was obviously a not a pig. Hyenas are huge and when they hunt in packs are more effective at bringing down prey than a pride of Lions, mostly due to their reliance on endurance and their extremely powerful jaws. I was surprised to hear from Lynda that they used to get Hyenas on the base a recently as two years ago! They used to wander up from the stream, walk up the path and get into the rubbish. Man!

Another thing to note is that the minnimum wage has gone up 300 percent since the beginning of Janurary which is crazy. Actually Engedi was already paying staff that and a little more, but the over all effect will thing in shops and food etc becoming more expensive in general the the very poor who earn less than 1$ a day will have an even harder time at buying things, or at least much more limited. It may not seem so bad, but its sure to have significant effect.

Democracy by other means

Just read an interesting column by Aidan Hartley, of whom I read a great book called The Zanzibar Chest.. He gives a clearer perspective than most commentators, maybe because he has spent most of his life reporting all over the continent of Africa, here.

life goes on

Check out this funny blog post from the Owens family who have recently moved here to en Gedi from Canada here under the post Wednesday, 19th of Jan. The roundabouts here are called keplefti...keep lefti? They also say 'I say' when they are making an exclamation in Swahili, but don't understand they probably got it from the British.

I've been going for runs with some of the guys on the base, and it is really challenging as we are 1000 feet above sea level, and the higher altitude is harder on your lungs. but at last i am getting used to it, and its just great to run through the farms and villages around and greet the people, pumping away on the red dirt and dust and dodging cattle and overloaded trucks on the road.

pity I can't post any photos, but the server won't allow me to :(

(if you leave a comment I will reply, Just check the comments section on the bottom of the post upon which you commented. Confusing?)

Kenya - pray

On anther note from my previous post, please pray for Kenya. It really is getting pretty intense over there and it is effecting things here in Tanzania, as they are our neighbors. just check out this article from today:

here

Nairobi is literally two to three hours away from Arusha, where I am at the moment. We are their closest city outside Kenya, and there is a bit of a fuel shortage here in East Africa because of the violence. My ticket actually leaves from Nairobi airport, so there might be a problem with my flight home, I hope not though! The government is not being smart, and i was surprised to find that the Kenyan politicians are among the highest paid in the world! No wonder there someone is trying to hog he presidential seat. Needless to say the government is acting terribly, but there is a whole lot of cultural tension coming to the surface. Like people keep saying over here, we just "hope it isn't another Rawanda". We met some people who had been on a safari in Kenya and had to return through the streets amidst the gunshots, fires and angry mobs.

§ Zanzibar §

Ah, its good to be back at En Gedi again, and have the internet working. I would have liked to post a lot more over the past week and a half, but the net wasn't working and then i went to Zanzibar and now, as happens, I have forgotten what I want to say. I find things come together in you head when you have time to ponder, but if you aren't quick to engrave them in your memory, or paper, they warp, slip this way and that and eventually escape the fingers of my mind. So...


Zanzibar! what an experience. It is a small tropical Island off the coast of Tanzania, which is on the east of the continent. The beaches are exquisite. White coral sand, blue and green water, tropical fish, snorkeling on the various reefs, sunbathing (and getting burnt), reading, eating quite a lot, sleeping quite a lot, swimming as much as possible due to intense heat, playing cards and talking with good company, all pretty much sum up the first five days at the norther end of the Island. I went with Jeremy (the leader of the Joshua foundation's son), Kendra (his girlfriend, and Joanna (one of the head teachers at the college). I am browner than i have ever been, although i don't think the tan will last until I get back, hheheh.

The fifth day day we went to a new hotel in Stone Town where we stayed for a day and a night. With it's white washed walls,winding alleyways, ancient, hand carved doors in Arabian style, beautiful mosques and cathedral, palaces, late night markets where you can fill up on a lot of fish for a cheap price, Stone Town has character. It has been around the block a few times, or maybe the block has been around it. It is also filled with tourists, but that can be positive because it means it is quite safe to walk the alleyways and basically get lost with no problems at all. I sat and drank some fresh coconut for amount 50 cents and had a good old chat with the locals, visited the site of the old slave market which was demolished and covered by a Anglican cathedral. It was just fun. I took lots of photos as well, although i wish i didn't have to and could just take photos with my eyes, because you never know how photos are going to turn out exactly.


Its good to hear home from family
-Hannah, I'm sorry to hear the bad news, but remeber i failed my restricted 3 time! Write me another email, I like the last one.
-Geoff, glad you are killing those cockroaches for me. I'm gonna bring home a mosquito net for sure :) Miss ya bro
-sorawit, are youi in Australia yet? How are ya man? whats been happening?
-Mum, good to hear from you, and to get some photos from the beach from aunti Toni, just to see you guys. Love and miss you.
-Dad, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!(sorry Im late)
-andy, good to her from you, thanks for reading. Hope you and family had a great Xmas. Thanks for prayers.
-theo, How are ya bro? Heard you got a new bike? awesome. I still haven't had a chance to dirt-bike. ~hope you plans for Japan are underway and going well :)