Playing Catch-Up

Last week was pretty busy. We spent a lot of time on the road, so I’ve been doing my best to keep things updated on my end. Check it out!!!

-Mwanza
On Tuesday, we took the 3-hour trip to Mwanza because Fr. Donnie, Fr. Dan, and Fr. Michael had their bi-annual meetings with the other Maryknoll missionaries that work throughout Tanzania. We went out to some really nice restaurants for dinner, including a great place that sits on Lake Victoria!

-When Baboons Attack!
As most of you know, Fr. Donnie and I were nearly attacked by a group of ferocious baboons outside of the Serengeti (check out the video on my facebook if you haven’t seen it yet...). My sincerest apologies for the shaky camera work…grabbing bananas took precedence over capturing those awful animals in the act!

-So Long…
We said goodbye to Fr. Dan while in Mwanza. He’s heading back to the states for some much-needed back surgery. Just like Fr. Donnie, Fr. Dan has spent the majority of his life helping out the poor. Moreover, Fr. Dan’s list of accomplishments is quite impressive: He’s worked in UN refugee camps during various civil wars, built the first windmills in the region (which have been very effective in helping to supply water to people), and he’s successfully decreased tensions between two of Tanzania’s most hostile tribes, the Sukuma and Watatulu…So ya, I guess it’s finally time for Fr. Dan to take care of himself

-Welcome Back!
Fr. Ed “SugarDaddy” Schulman came back to Ndoleleji this week. Fr. Ed is an extremely intelligent guy(he has his doctorate in psychology, and he reads ALL the time!). While his kindness is admirable, it creates an impression in some people’s minds that the priests have more than they letting on…Anyway, like I said before, he’s a really good guy, so I guess we’ll just see what happens!

-Food Shopping
I promise to never complain about going to Stop-N-Shop ever again. SugarDaddy Shulman (sorry, I just really like that nickname) asked me to join him to help him get food at the market because the environment is absolutely crazy! For example, random people started asking me if Osama Bin Laden was dead. At first, I nodded my head, however, more and more people seemed to be getting excited over hearing me discuss the subject. I also had a chance to look at a few of the local papers, which had pictures of what definitely looked like fake-autopsy photos, so I wasn’t even sure what was being reported to the people over here. Once we had finished shopping, I jumped in the back of Fr. Donnie’s truck to make sure nobody stole any of our food. As we were pulling away, some dude gave me his best Dwayne Wade impersonation, and hit me in the back with a cheap shot. It didn’t hurt, nonetheless, I was rather displeased…