Long Ago I Went on a Hike

There are some weeks where nothing new happens. This was one of those weeks. So, looking through older pictures I was reminded of a hike I went on nearly three years ago and thought I'd share the adventure with you.

There was a hilltop that wanted to be climbed. We started by driving my vehicle as close to the hill as we could manage. This resulted in driving on footpaths and around the edges of farmlands until an irrigation ditch prevented us from going further. We left the vehicle parked in the middle of nowhere and struck off towards our goal.

We had to cross a large marshy patch at one point. A man walked up to us and asked if we would like a guide through the marsh. We accepted his help and he took us on a winding path that eventually led us out of the marsh. I meant it in the most affectionate way when I said in my heart 'thank you Gollum for leading us through the marshes'. (p.s., we were heading to the hilltop on the far left of this picture).

It took a few hours and we passed through various terrains, including crawling up the hill through thorns, sometimes on all fours.

Eventually we made it to the top and were rewarded with a stunning view.

As we descended the hill we realized that we didn't really take note of where we had left the vehicle...and it was no where to be seen. So, we headed in the direction that we thought it should be. We had to press hard to get back to the vehicle as we saw this storm rolling in.

We had nearly arrived at the irrigation ditch, still hadn't seen the vehicle and the rain was just about to start when we rounded a large thorn bus to find my vehicle directly across the ditch in front of us! We barely got wet and had a fun time navigating (and, truth be told, spinning at one point) through the muddy landscape as we made our way back to the road.

My Office Today

I have one question about the Kwaya orthography that I've been trying to answer for six months. In an attempt to get an answer I set up office for a couple of hours here:

Despite the lovely setting I was unable to get a clear answer to my question. So, tomorrow I'm heading out to a different market and I'll try again. Wish me luck!

AWE-some Workshop

I'm back in Musoma following a two-week workshop on Academic Writing and Editing (AWE). It was a good and practical workshop.

I spend most of my time working on linguistics that relate more directly to translation (like spell-checking and orthography development). It is hard to find time to give to academic writing, but producing write-ups about various aspects of these languages is in fact part of my job! I definitely feel better equipped in this area now.

An additional joy from this workshop was the diversity. I can't show a picture of all of us since some of the participants work in a sensitive area, but I can say that out of the 13 people involved there were 7 nationalities (including Europeans, Americans and Africans). Additionally, we travelled from 7 different countries to attend this workshop! I love diversity!

Thankfully, although the trip to Dar was eventful (A bit of compromise), the return trip was uneventful.

Weekend with Wesley

By excellent luck I happen to be in Dar right now AND my brother Wesley flew into Dar during my free weekend. So, I got to spend some time with him!

It was nice introducing him to some of my friends: here we are having lunch with my German "big-brother" Oliver.

It was also nice helping him get a phone and internet capabilities set up for his research trip over the coming month.

Additionally, during travel to Dar last week I met a regional commissioner. He happens to be the regional commissioner for the region where Wesley will be conducting research. I got his business card and have passed it on to Wesley, in case it comes in handy. What luck!

A bit of Compromise

I am in Dar es Salaam for the next two weeks for a workshop on academic writing - sounds exciting right!

Well, getting here was at least exciting.

The title of my blog is 'Found in Translation'. Translation is essential for living cross-culturally. Not just language translation, many different types of translation, including the ability to translate unexpected circumstances as an adventure. This type of translation allows one to enjoy an experience rather than get frustrated.

Following a week of getting plane tickets rebooked following a flight cancellation, I was ready, on Saturday, to fly out of Musoma rather than the originally scheduled Sunday departure.

• I received a call a couple of hours before the flight to inform me that the Saturday flight was cancelled. But, the airline had arranged transportation for us from Musoma to Mwanza to catch another flight. I thought it fitting that COMPROMISE was written across the windshield of the daladala that ferried us to Mwanza. (We left Musoma at 5:10pm)

• We made a 45 minute pit-stop half way to Mwanza due to tire problems. I took the opportunity to grab some dinner. I got some mishkaki and chips (kebab and fries) on the side of the road. They were delicious.

• The airline staff-person ferrying us to Mwanza apologized for the delay and offered to buy us dinner. Upon arrival in Mwanza at 10pm, we stopped in a guest-house for our promised "in-flight" food. The driver still fully intending to get us to an 11pm flight.

• At 10:40pm we were rushed to the airport. We spent a grand total of 10 minutes inside the airport before we had tickets and were sent to the plane.

• I don't know what flight they put us on, or if they just created the flight specially for us, but, the 11 of us spread out luxuriously in this plane for our two-hour flight. We arrived in Dar at 1:25am.

Now, one might say that we arrived in Dar 6 hours later than expected. However, since our flight was originally scheduled for Sunday, we kind of arrived 18 hours earlier than expected. It is all about perspective. I encourage you all to go out and see unexpected events as an opportunity for adventure today. You may just find yourself with a whole plane pretty much to yourself!