Crooked Necks

End Of The Road

2006-10-15T22:24:00.000+03:00

Wow, I hadn’t realized that last post had actually gone up until that comment – I had broken it up into two because it was so big. So, here’s the last of it, the rest of the journey – A Road-Side View: Bahati and Selwyn - On the road to Siteki,

Blog By Bus - A Picture Log

2006-08-23T20:06:00.000+03:00

I guess it's been a while. This post has taken some time though. I admit, I've been A. Lazy and B. Distracted. I'm now in Boston, Massachusetts and have begun a masters program in International Relations. Between that and continuing work for bridges(.org), I've had some excuses. Also, blogger is so buggy, the picture post I've been wanting to do took quite a bit of work: I went from attempting

Saving My Neck

2006-07-21T06:09:00.000+03:00

Another long absence and I can't use poor connectivity as an excuse this time. I think I had gotten acclimated to such a slow internet connection because even the 36 MBS at my parents' house seems like lightning. Have basically been catching up on what I use to call life. Being away from bills and paperwork and the general speed of things in the US only makes it that much harder to be a part of

Out Of Addis - Long Trip

2006-07-14T02:51:00.000+03:00

They say you don’t need to reconfirm flights anymore for British Airways, but I say it’s always a good idea to drop by the office when you’re in Addis Ababa. I recalled that my flight time was changed when leaving the country on Lufthansa 3 years ago – Addis isn’t exactly a hub, so schedules fluctuate w/ demand – so I planned on checking on my flight a couple days before leaving; turns out it was

Out Of Addis - Short Trip

2006-07-12T03:54:00.000+03:00

Sorgham and Lentil Crops Originally uploaded by ODBennett. Leaving Addis in any direction makes for a beautiful trip. I took a short sojourn to the Ethiopian Children's Fund School in Aleltu about 45 km outside of Addis. My friend Wubet, who was the librarian at Gibson during my time as a teacher, had volunteered there a couple of years ago. The purpose of the school is to provide not

Photo Update

2006-07-11T20:11:00.000+03:00

Finally uploaded the photos from Kenya. Will also have the final couple posts in the next few days that will cover the last week in Addis and a crazy return flight.

Conflicted Cup

2006-07-10T06:19:00.000+03:00

[Another delayed post; will be caught up to the current continent soon. Posting lots of pictures and am working on getting everything on the Flickr site labeled and organized] Eventhough it’s the same-old cafés in Addis, a lot has changed. Since 2003, internal conflicts, controversial elections, regional destabalization, and related suppression of free-speech have dominated Ethiopian politics.

Rainy Season

2006-07-09T01:22:00.000+03:00

[Finally the internets are cooperating. Oh yeah, that's because I'm back in the US. 4 flights, 3 continents, and 27 hours of travel - and most of that was in the air, literally sprinting around Heathrow and JFK to make connections. Working on unpacking my bag and my brain; here are some posts I had written but was unable to post from Addis. Just pretend I'm still there] Ah Addis, the Paris of

Blog Bus Takes Flight

2006-06-27T14:14:00.000+03:00

An extended vacation from the blog leaves me with two more stamps in the passport and a lot to catch up on. I haven’t been feeling particularly eloquent lately, so I wanted to hyperlink to lots of pictures to compensate for the otherwise perfunctory prose below, but the internets aren’t cooperating w/ any uploading to flickr right now. I’m just glad I was finally able to access blogger. Last post

The Need For Maps and Guides

2006-06-14T14:21:00.000+03:00

Took care of some blog-up-keep today. There are more pictures up and please note the two new links in my Africa Blogs and News roll: CIPESA and I-Network These are two organizations that I currently share an office with and both do great work in the ICT/Africa sector. Spent yesterday morning at a Bridges.org workshop that focused on how development organizations can better utilize mapping

On Winning The Cold War But Losing 3 - 0

2006-06-13T11:37:00.000+03:00

I’m not a funny guy, but one joke that has done well during my travels is the one where I name the characteristics of Americans that have helped make us the world’s lone super-power: “we’re humble, passive, non-violent, open to alternative beliefs, have a propensity for multilateralism, and we’re definitely not arrogant.” Something to that effect and it’s funny because it’s not true. Well, not

This Weeks 'Relatively Democratic Medium With Low Barriers To Entry'

2006-06-12T13:54:00.000+03:00

Bid a sad farewell the other day to what could be my final Hostel of the trip. I moved out of the backpackers and am actually living in a proper apartment for my last week here. I have a beautiful balcony above a restaurant called The LaFontaine. My view isn't exactly Paris in the spring, but it's nice and I'm loving being able to cook my own meals, even if it's in the dark, over a parafin stove

I've Got A Fever...And The Only Cure Is...

2006-06-10T13:05:00.000+03:00

Ok, back from a long break from everything: Kampala, work, internets, and good health. About two weeks ago I went, with the crew of other foreigners who are here for an extended stay, to secure Gorilla permits so that we could see the famous mountain gorillas. These are the Diane Fossey, Gorillas in The Mist gorillas. There are about 700 alive in the world, about half are in Uganda. The

I Want Real Africa

2006-06-02T14:26:00.000+03:00

Continuing with my tour of Kampala’s cuisine, I dined at a small downtown restaurant the other night and ate Ugandan food. My experience was in line with similar outings at ‘local-joints’ eating ‘African food’ for a number of reasons: The menu is only meant to stimulate some ideas. You’ll become aware of what’s actually in the kitchen after your first attempt to order. I was forced

Some Sprinkles, Tastes, and Other Ramblings

2006-05-30T17:06:00.000+03:00

The rain has returned in buckets. The mosquitoes woke me up last night - I meet a disproportionate number of foreigners who have had malaria in Uganda compared to other East African Nations and my mosquito-net and repellent seem to be less effective every night, not psyched - and when I was coming back from the bathroom I noticed that it was particularly warm for 4am. I went out onto my balcony

Holiday News

2006-05-29T18:28:00.001+03:00

I could almost smell the barbeques yesterday as I longed for Memorial Day weekend. Really a wonderful time of year. Last Thursday should have been a big holiday too: it was African Liberation Day, or Africa Day. Honestly, I had no idea. Learned a lot this morning though, thanks to related articles in Pambuzka, particularly one I’d like to publish in this space. I apologize for bringing anyone

Searching

2006-05-25T18:11:00.000+03:00

Ok, some pictures finally up. The latest are from Tanzania, was hoping to post more from a day-trip on Sunday to Jinja – a town on Lake Victoria about an hour’s drive from Kampala where you can visit the source of the nile; the spot where the river leaves the lake on its way north – but it might be awhile until I can get those on the web. Uploading is extremely painful here. Turns out, the guys

For Real For Real

2006-05-24T16:01:00.000+03:00

There are really pictures up now. Only a few, but more soon, as well as a blog post on how much I love the internet connectivity in Uganda. Oh, and I added a few more minibus names, another for the Um... category believe it or not.

Neither Stately Nor Static

2006-05-19T16:14:00.000+03:00

Ok...new pictures. [I hope, they were still uploading when I published this] Upload times in Uganda are unbelievably slow. Actually they’re just as slow as expected, but trust me, very slow. Only 6 new pictures up; all from Tanzania. Hope to have the camera out this weekend though now that I've replaced my camera-card reader. Glad to see major media outlets are picking up on what’s going on

Changed Priorities Ahead?

2006-05-17T16:34:00.000+03:00

Happy World Information Society Day everyone! AKA WIS Day, this great holiday was designed (last year) to commemorate the establishment of the International Telecomunications Union on May 17, 1865. The ITU is arguably one of the most successful international governance regimes in the history of international governance regimes as it has overseen world-wide television, telephony, radio, and other

Are Americans Completely Full of Shit, or is There Still Room For a Little More Shit?

2006-05-14T13:34:00.000+03:00

I was discussing the state of the Democratic Party with another American (thankfully dominating me in the role of obnoxious American), a Brit. (keenly more astute than the obnoxious American when it came to US political history), and a Ugandan. The American was proudly claiming (and loudly) that, judging by Bush’s current approval rating, the Republicans were finally done. I completely disagreed,

K is For Kampala

2006-05-11T18:50:00.000+03:00

Of course, the day after I get into school I go to the job interview that brought me to Kampala and have to pass up an amazing job because I want to torture myself with two more years of skooling. This was with bridges.org who are starting up a really cool initiative on African IT Policy (CIPESA) that will involve a lot of interesting research projects and the opportunity to shape IT policy and

Dance, Dance, Dance, Revolution

2006-05-06T11:23:00.000+03:00

[First off: I’ve been accepted to Tufts’ Fletcher school for graduate study next fall, for the first time in six months I actually know what I’ll be doing next year and where. Good feeling; come visit me in Boston. DC people, I plan to make it up to you with a trip this summer, also scheming for a big party at my parents house before I move…] Back to the backpackers life in Kampala. Until

Still Raining

2006-05-03T14:13:00.000+03:00

That's Ganga and Me at the market in Arusha (hope you can see it, we're under an umbrella [I H8 Blogger]). Have had a great time here; Ganga and her housemates, all of them volunteers in different capacities around Arusha, were incredible hosts. Some really good food has made up for the

Some Kind Of Joke

2006-05-01T14:27:00.000+03:00

Some thoughts on recent news that I was catching up on during my stay in the wireless-house in Dar: Some focus on Africa in the Washington Post last week - African Pilagers One of those 'overviews of hellish continent where bad leaders come to drag further into hell' articles. A lot of truth to this of course, but got me thinking of the way these leaders, bad as they are, are viewed by the main