Just a few quick notes on the last couple of weeks…

i’m writing because i’m either inspired, or have been given a guilt trip for not posting enough updates.. Regardless.. here it is.. a stream of consciousness update on the latest happenings over here in sunny East Africa.

Did you know Dar has been ranked as one of the top ten fastest growing cities in the world? yep. it is also ranked as one of the dirtiest cities in the world. Those two tend to go hand in hand -How big is Dar getting? well.. they’ve spent a lot of time and effort digging up the streets to install fiber.. they’ve got 30,000 Chinese nationals here working on setting up DART – rapid bus transit.. they’ve banned any new permits for dala-dalas (the small public transport buses that are certainly an experience,) there are cranes dotting the skyline every which way.. they’re looking to build a bridge and put the ferry out of business (without wait, i can be at the resorts in south beach-yeah that’s the name–in 30mins from my place.. with traffic.. 60-90min avg)

This last trip has been again different from the previous ones. More cultural activities and a lot more exercise.  Lots of golf, lots of time at the beach, lots of dining events (Fb group, dining in DAR) and more cultural goings on….a bit of everything, playing golf on Saturdays (maddening  sport), futbol twice a week (yep, still with the expat league.. but now we’re tied at top of the table! after two games..), also.. got to see and hear Jane Goodall deliver her passionate yet practiced speech on chimps, saw an art exhibit, attended several salsa-dancing events (even danced), saw live ‘African blues’ a couple of times, found a jazz pub, went to see the local, way off-Broadway production of ‘Fame” – they sold beer before and during intermission, the theater has AC.. oh and yea.. it was good. Reminded me when i was on tech crew back at old JFK .. fun times.. and for last two weeks have spent nearly every night at the gym and the pool… which makes for very short nights out. Three to five guys lifting and exercising together, then cooking up a storm of food, a beer.. a little Futbol on TV and then to bed.. on a positive note if i continue that little regimen, I’ll be fitter than i’ve been since the mid 90s — down about  35lbs since i came here in Dec2011 .. enough for now.  Have a great weekend, wherever you may be, and may you be with your loved ones.  i do miss mine terribly, although skype does help.

Feels Like a Dream

Feels like a dream… just like that, I was home and now I’m back here. Not enough time, there is never enough time when you want to spend time with your loved ones, when you have it, you fail to appreciate it, and when its limited, you try to do too much and oft are felled by circumstance. Ten nights, including an extended-not planned-but-necessary-stay in Maryland… that was it, next time I’ll see them live and in person.. en vivo y en directo, will be the end of March… this leaving was easily the hardest, as the boy grows older, he is more vocal (and if you know him, you know what I mean) and quite expressive. It broke me to have him ask me repeatedly not to leave. Getting dusty in here as I write these words and remember what happened just about a week ago…
And then off on a plane for thirteen mostly sleepless hours (the one benefit of such travel… got an upgrade to business class on the Emirates A380 and its second story bar full of premium scotch and tasty middle eastern themed snacks and full movie selection.. sleeping came in fits and starts.) Then.. Dubai. Wow. Its one thing to read about it and see stories on TV or the net, it is quite another to see it live. The scale is tremendous. Best I can come up with in comparison is the building frenzy of Beijing, the height of Shanghai (Pu dong), the glitz of Vegas, and the heat (ok, ok.. it wasn’t hot as it is winter, but still..) of Miami. Wide superhighways through town, Ferrari’s, Bugatti and Rolls interspersed with Toyota, Mitsubishi, Honda, Mercedes and the odd American car.. not very many Porsche’s though – as we were told by one our hosts, if you have a Porsche, you are nothing. Like having a Camry elsewhere I suppose.
From the cold of the US east coast, to the mild spring like weather in Dubai, to scorching heat coming off the tarmac in Dar. Full circle, beginning the second year in Tanzania. Came back to a relatively quiet city, many expats still out on holiday either at their home countries or at the islands, either Zanzibar or Mafia (swimming with the Whale Sharks I’m told is a pretty cool experience.)
So Monday morning the reality of doing business here sets back in – traffic jams (slightly diminished due to folks out on holiday), intermittent power outages, problems popping up that should have been resolved or at least notified but weren’t, people coming in to work late due to transport problems or some other sort of issue, mosquitoes, and the heat. Oh the heat. Hoping today will resolve my internet issues at home, at the very least I’ll have to replenish the USB wireless card, if not outright replace it.
In short, feeling hopeful for reasons not altogether covered here, but feeling the stress I’m quite familiar with. New personal project planned thanks to my buddy Norb, I’ll share details as it comes along. Ta, ta.

First Weekend Back…. survey says…

Everything changes, while all stays the same. Driving around town through the weekend noticed construction everywhere. Not like when i was in Beijing and everywhere you looked, the horizon was dotted with construction cranes, but for Dar.. it was significant. Four to eight story buildings going up everywhere, the telltale wood and bamboo frames around the cement forms; roads being flattened, if not quite paved; new ditches being cut (and paved) for rain waters to drain off the road, the bar at the Karambezi removed, new parking regulations at the airport, not just charging but large signs threatening fines of 20,000 shillings if you pick up/drop off at the curb, change, change, change. And of course, the various exit/entry points out of the peninsula covered by the usual cadre of traffic police looking for violations. So that hasn’t changed.
Was reminded once again how easy it is to become out of touch with the larger world and the news back home. It was while reviewing through my twitter feed that i found out the horrid happenings in the middle east, confirmed by the TV showing CNN at Trinity on friday night. Not to echo Rodney King, but why can’t we come up with a viable solution? so much hate, lies and deceit on the part of both sides (both equally waging their case through the msm).

Saw a lot of my friends over the weekend, frequented the usual weekend haunts, missed going to the beach or playing golf, but did manage to get in a three hour work/lunch meeting on Saturday. All in all is good to be back. That said, home is far away and never forgotten.