kenyan adventure

sorry it's been so sporadic keeping in contact, but i have a lot to report but limited time. since i met with john and his friend russ we have spent a good deal of time around mombassa, kenya in the southeast of the country. we have spent most of our days laying around beaches, putting on soccer (football) "clinics" to students of all nations, frequenting local humanitarian establishments (bars) and squeezing into bus seats sized for the average 5th grader in 90+ degree heat. the most interesting story was last night. we left the hostel around 7:30pm to watch a soccer match and apparently at 8pm, three armed gun men came in and robbed the place. everyone got to rest on the ground face-first and were relinquished of their wedding rings, laptops, cameras, and money. we always miss the fun. but everything is ok no one was hurt but a reminder to be safe.


we are now in dar e'salamm, tanzania, and are headed to zanzibar island tomorrow for a week before we split up. i'm headed by train to western tanzania and on to rwanda to meet the professor i will be working with on the cassava project, which i will explain later.

alive in africa

after 49 hours of travel i arrived in nairobi, kenya. it was an surprisingly enjoyable journey. i left charlotte at 1130 am had a 5-hour layover in minneapolis before boarding a KLM flight to amsterdam. the flight was late to leave because of security. because there were lots of muslim-sounding names on the flight, we went through 3 lines of US customs and security. the flight had to circumnavigate the volcanic ash in iceland which sent us over greenland. the engines seemed to stall near reykjavik, which kept things interesting. my seatmates were christian missionaries to norway (who knew norwegians needed saving). the woman asked me to pray with her, which was awkward. but we arrived safely in netherlands and immediately jumped on a plane to kampala, uganda. upon arrival i asked a muslim woman from the minneapolis flight about taxis to the bus station. she said that she would give me a ride to a hostel. i paid the visa and passed through ugandan customs. she and her son, though US citizens, were held with all somalis for interrogation. i waited in the baggage claim and met her husband, a huge somali, who had come to pick them up. after waiting a bit he walks backwards through customs, pays a bribe, and they come through without questioning. we loaded up in his lexus suv and headed into town. apparently he is an american citizen but enjoys living in uganda more than the states. they invited me to come over and watch the nba finals and play basketball with his friends, when i come back through kampala. i got the impression that they were well off, but it was confirmed when they dropped me off at the hostel and someone recognized him as the owner of several gas companies, auto parts distributors, tire shops, and they mentioned, 'this man doesnt have to wait to meet the president'. i'm a good judge of character huh.
anyway i slept for a couple hours and got a bus to kampala. 15 hours later i arrived in nairobi, caught a taxi to the hostel, and meet up with john and his friend russ. we headed to the club, renowned for its female companions, and i received an abrupt welcome to kenya. because of my intellect and sparklingly personality, i'm sure, the hookers really liked me. although i had some really interesting conversations on quantum physics and string theory, i came home alone. john woke me at noon. we had lunch and bought overnight tickets to mombossa, another 8 hours in a bus, where we'll stay for a couple days and then on to tanzania. sorry for the long letter. i promise to be more witty, provide more pictures, and be less sleep-deprived in the next post.

barn project and house update

i finally got around to moving the barn on the property back about 30 feet to get more solar exposure. the idea is to put photovoltaic solar panels on the south side to produce electricity.
i had the idea that i could brace it, jack it up on greased boards and skid it into place on concrete piers with the help of friends.


after half a day of frustration struggling to slide the monstrosity, i caved and agreed to disassemble it. heres the end product and an update on the house.

austrian/turkish xmas

i spent the holidays with the folks in austria visiting my brother and sister-in-law. i was to arrive on dec 16th but before leaving for the airport from hickory i realized i had forgotten my passport in tennessee. i called travelocity to see if i could change the flight. i was told it would be $1600 or $5000 to fly to following day. it didnt look like i would be spending the holidays with the family. fortunately my mom was at the airport and got me on the standby list for 200$ and i flew the next day. disaster averted!!

nathan and alex and i went rodeling (sledding) one day with better results than last time (see austrian mountain crash), enjoyed beer and pretzels at the mountain hut before plummeting down the hill in the dark.







my parents arrived on the 23rd and we performed the famous family Von Spees (Trapp) christmas special for the unsuspecting austrians. it wasnt pretty. out of tune and jet lagged!!



snuggi really


we went to alex's mother's hometown in east tirol, the mountain city, tennessee of austria, and they took me to the world cup of womens downhill ski race.








my mother is a dork


we strapped on skis with skins and skied up to a ski hut. i hadnt skied in 12 years and it took some getting used to but i didnt die and looked reeel tough tumbling down.


pretty tough huh


family with the local blacksmith


nathan and i went to turkey for a couple days to cappadokia. known for cave churches craved into the sandstone.


find the little gnome


nathan incited a spontaneous turkish nights dance party @ the local restaurant


we met some german/maltese friends and hiked with them








amazing ceiling pictographs in the churches

worms for the liberalization of poop

heres my research for my masters @ appalachian state university. i studied the optimal amount of earthworms needed to make human poop free of e. coli. it was a failure for a number of reasons but i made a funny movie to cover up the fact that is was a bummer. enjoy

how to conquer europe in 10 days: franch (like the salad dressin') edition

conquest train all day from italy to nice. it takes you through cote d'azure (french riveria) monte carlo and manaco through the window @ sunset. the day was horribly long very few stops


common sight; boots doing a crossword


we got to nice at 8pm and had about an hour before the overnight train to paris. i was not especially impressed with the food in italy; some wonderful, some like gas station pizza. so i entered france thinking that the famous culinary countries were overrated. in the hour in nice we ran across the street to a bistro the french equivalent of denny's. i had a beef roquefort with FREEDOM fries and betsy had veal in a mushroom gravy. both were amazing!! i thought maybe it was just beginner's luck. no!! everything we got in france was fantastic.



we got on the all-night train from nice to paris without cabin reservations, stepped into a sleeper cabin with three folding beds on each wall. i asked a young french guy who was on the top bunk, if the cabin was full and where to get tickets. he said find the conductor. i noticed it smelled really bad in the cabin and made a mental note that the stereotype was true, but ignored it and slid our bags under the bottom bunk and noticed that my bag slid out strangely. i pushed it back in and again it slid out. i pulled the bag out and looked to see what was blocking it. to my surprise, someone was looking back at me!! i quickly stood up and whispered to the frenchman that there was someone sleeping under the lower bunk he looked at me and said "yez you dum' amerIcan ze bedz arrr mad for ze sleepin" "no, there is someone under the bed." i said. he jumped down and looked under to make sure. then stood up and said "we mus alert ze proper auzoritiez." betsy and i took our bags into the next cabin (which was odoriferous as well) and i checked below the bunk before leaving and found another two stow-aways and the same in the next cabin. by this time the two stow-aways in the first cabin had gotten out and were walking the halls telling their friends to get out from their hiding places. now everyone in the car were checking under their bunks and found other hideaways. i apologized to the stow-aways for revealing them that i didnt mean to get them in trouble, the guys didnt seem upset and spoke in spanish. so i assume they were making their way north from spain. some of them wouldnt come out even as the conductors came and the train was stopped and the police came aboard. there were a total of 10 or so that were thrown off. one bought a ticket and upon arrival in paris the next morning i saw him get off, i ducked and we shuffled away quickly.
very NIIIIIICE train station



we got to paris @ 7am and went to the couchsurfer guy's house we were staying with. dimitri came to the door in just a robe and told us to be quiet bc he had other couchsurfers staying with him in his small apartment in montmartre. he was like a little travel agent telling us exactly what to do. betsy and i decided to meet him later for dinner.
in front to the basilica du sacre coeur near dimitris apartment.


at notre dame cathedral we enjoyed people watching more than the sights
the sapranos come to france.
vinny and vicky


vicky


betsy's first real live gsypy





french modeling: think "naughty"


french modeling: think "oops i had an accident"


street life


street food


betsy liked the doors


betsy's fashion twin


we had lunch @ a creperie. it was packed and sooo good. savory crepe avec ham, mushroom, beschamel sauce


almond, caramel ala mode


i couldnt resist playing ball in the park. look @ that defense


i had to teach em frenchies sum'pun 'bout b-ball


picture at the base of eiffel tower


street food



champs elysees @ night


arc d'triomphe at night