A smaller plan took me 90 minutes - and perhaps back 100 - or more - years - into Juba, the capital of Southern Sudan. A world capital with maybe 3 paved roads and the lowest life expectancy and literacy rate of any national capital (checking that for accuracy)

# posted by matthew : 3/29/2009 11:29:00 PM  0 Comments

Labels: Hash Morocco

# posted by matthew : 7/17/2007 01:45:00 PM  0 Comments

1774 steps up that needle on the left ....

# posted by matthew : 4/02/2007 12:15:00 PM  2 Comments

OK, it's not American Idol. But I enter speech contests, and in the case this year, speech evaluation contests. And - BRAGGING ALERT! BRAGGING ALERT! I have met with some success.

In 2005, I managed to win the Club, Area and Division International Speech contests which covered sort of northeast Florida. Unfortunately I was off volunteering in Rwanda and had to let the runner-up take my place at the "District" contest which covered Florida plus Bahamas. But got a nice haul of 5 trophies on the way (I was also in the impromptu "Table Topics" contests).

This year, I represented my Toronto club and won the Area and Division contests and in 2 weeks compete for the Ontario 'District' championship in the Speech Evaluation contest.

Those of you who know me may be thinking: well no suprise there, that cranky clod can criticize anyone!

Anyway, there is a tiny bit more to it than that and I do try to be nice. The speakers we evaluate in the contests are very good speakers so even though evaluations are 75-90% positive feedback, it can be a challenge to find much to suggest for improvement.

If you have never attended one of these contests before ... you most likely won't attend this one :-) but here's where I'll be competing April 15th: http://triontex.com/SpringConference2007/.

What do you say, "break a leg" isn't really appropriate ... "Split a lip?"

This year's trophies:

Labels: Toastmasters

# posted by matthew : 3/28/2007 10:17:00 PM  0 Comments

Getting back from Mongolia took a few more hours than the planned 24. I flew Mongolian's MIAT airline from UlaanBator to Beijing and United to O'Hare 5 hours later. I cleared customs and had 75 minutes to connect to my flight to Orlando; the people in line to check in for domestic flights filled the hall.

I was trying to hop onto an AirCanada flight to Toronto, but the agent was - I regret to say "the usual AirCanada type" - and uninspired to be much help offering only - "I doubt there are any seats left" - How's that for specific, timely, useful information?!

So I jumped the United line, while listening to the announcement: "We recommend you go home if you can, all flights after 7:00 pm are cancelled". Aha! My flight to Orlando was scheduled for 5:45 pm - still hope! I already had a boarding pass, and bags tagged to Orlando, so just dumped my bags onto the conveyor belt and headed to the gate.

The crew was there, the coming ice storm had not yet arrived, the plane was there and ... no gate agent to let anyone in!

The agent arrived and the crew boarded at 5:15 and we waited, seeing a delay until 6:00 posted, then we boarded ... and waited

A series of fortunate and unfortunate events then transpired including:

• Bad: ice pellets started to fall, we were informed we could not fly
• Good: crew said we could dash off for 10 minutes to buy food - I seized the chance - along with about 5 other people - and got a sub and muffin for later - turned out to be a good decision
• Bad: the pilot reported that he wasn't getting a lot of information
• Good: ice turned back into snow
• Bad: a passenger needed to deplane for an emergency which cost us our spot in line to de-ice
• Good: Crew started a film for us to watch
• ??: Crew handed out granola bars (bars not great but were food so not bad)
• Bad: the de-iced plan behind us just sat there for 45 minutes blocking us while our de-icers waited for us
• Good: Crew started a second film ("The Prestige") for us to watch

All in all United Airlines crew did a great job of keeping us informed and kept a courteous and cheerful attitude through our 6 hour runway sit, though they seemed to be getting sparse and innacurate info all through the evening.

check back and I'll post the link to a short video of the de-icing in case you have never seen that ...

# posted by matthew : 2/26/2007 05:58:00 AM  1 Comments

I did a getaway weekend in Beijing in what is probably the BEST weekend of the year to visit one of the world's biggest cities. I met up with friends from Mongolia also visiting China and we hiked for 3.5 hours on the Great Wall neat Simatei and saw about 16 people all day. Beijing traffic, known for 5 hour traffic jams flowed smooth all weekend as so many people headed to the countryside to celebrate as families.

Being 1 in a ... billion. Just to make sure my Great Wall experience was unique - I did one pushup in each of the 32 towers on our walk. Yes, I know there is something wrong with me.

I managed to visit the Forbidden City, Tia'nenmen Square and watch the fireworks all over Beijing 2 nights. I heard the fireworks in Hong Kong are wilder and featured the first ever in the world Chinese character produced by fireworks, but Beijing is pretty special. EVERY person sets off fireworks. We had about $200 worth at our part. It sounded like a war zone... Watch some fireworks here!

And the highlight of the trip was 2 days with the Beijing Hash House Harriers, we had a great run and party at the Hash 5:19 bar, food and beer all night for about $10. Then the usual suspects met up again the next night and we ate sashimi and sushi and beer at all you can eat/drink Japanese place for another $10. Great Hashers and people in Beijing and China!

It's so unfair that in many cultures pigs symbolize all things uncultured.
In English we have idioms such as to pig out (to overeat), to be pigheaded (stubborn), to be piggish (greedy or slovenly), to hog (take more than one's share) -- all reflections of our bias. In truth, pigs are the most intelligent animals after primates. See more HERE

pignus (PIG-nuhs) noun, plural pignora

  1. A pledge.
  2. Something held as security for a debt.

[From Latin pignus (pledge).]

# posted by matthew : 2/20/2007 04:03:00 AM  1 Comments

There are basically 2 types of cars in Ulaan Baator: nice, big 4-wheel drive hulks and ... unofficial taxis. Ok, there 3 types, because there are real taxis too.

Driving is on the right hand side here in Mongolia - like the States - but plenty of cars are left hand drive. And my commute between hotel and work has become one of riding in many types of cars. Like many locals, when I want to go somewhere, I don't bother phoning for a cab, I just stand on the road side with my arm extended down at about 45 degrees and wait for a car to pull over. They often reset their odometer to measure the ride. I only take them around the city so I know there can't be a fare over 1500 Mongolian Tugriks ($US 1.30), and I try to overpay just a bit and leave a little extra money in Mongolia.

Usually it is a man driving around by himself looking for fares and they rarely pick up someone extra once they have a fare, but yesterday I got in a car with another passenger and today, coming 'home' from work, a young woman 'picked me up'.

I've driven in a lot of places and anyone who has been in Egypt knows about wacko driving, but here is the most aggressive driving towards pedestrians I've ever seen, and last week was the absolute worst taxi ride I ever had in my life - 6 minutes of jerking and screeching in the normally straight road to my hotel. Not a great story but that was the last time I got into a real taxi.

Some others on the bottom of the food chain are the maids in the hotel, so they are very appreciative of their 90 cents tip/day and my room never wants for any supplies.

# posted by matthew : 2/15/2007 07:46:00 AM  0 Comments

Actually it was 6 men, 2 women, a baby and a teenager: 10 in all in the jeep we drove from Mongolia's largest city, 50 kilomteres into the countryside for the weekend. I had taken the sleeper train Friday night from Mongolia's capital UlaanBaator to the 3rd largest city Erdenet. Video of the dining car

The 4 person compartment with a mini-TV

And they collect water from the bit of a river about a mile away which is no completely frozen these days video of collecting ice from frozen stream

Most of the family

and me on a hike in the mountains, wearing my borrowed herder coat - WARM!

Labels: Mongolia

# posted by matthew : 2/14/2007 08:50:00 AM  0 Comments

1. It's warmer here than there - maybe. Stuff is melting! So the "World's Coldest National Capital" is NOT, at least for today

2. Just when you thought the bureaucracy would be horrid: I arrived at the Chinese Embassy 1 minute before the Visa section closed, seeing the hours for the first time (not listed on the website) and figuring I would have to come back in 2 days, and allowing for my total lack of how to say anything in Chinese, I thought this trip would be a waste. The smiling clerk took my application, smiled and said, 30 seconds later, "It'll be ready next Wednesday!"

3. The play I was directing has been canceled. One highly motivated person can wreck something, unfortunately. I stayed positive and offered to do whatever was necessary, but 2 of the cast gave up and decided to quit. Apparently there have been 3 attempts to do shows in UB in the past 3 years and - including this one - all 3 have been canceled! And there is one person involved in all 3 - Ugggh! If only I had known when I started and cast the thing! If you are interested in the soap behind the play-that-wasn't email me and I'll send you some of the emails that went back and forth - I find them hilarious :-)!

By popular request - here's more photo's: SMOG - the morning view from my hotel room - Chinggis Khan hotel room 815: Coal burning in the ger's (tents) makes the air truly ghastly - that's NOT through the window - I stuck my camera outside to take the pic

# posted by matthew : 2/06/2007 11:59:00 PM  0 Comments

News story here

TOP 10 SIGNS YOUR ASTRONAUT MIGHT NEED A CHANGE OF "STATUS":
 

10. Non-stop singing to herself, "And I would drive 900 miles, and I would ...."

9. No pantie lines but diaper pins showing through dress

8. Overheard at lunch, "please pass the salt and pepper spray"

7. Nonstop accusing other astronaut of "trying to abort my re-entry"

6. Wearing wig and trench coat around office claiming overexposure to solar radiation

5. Starts trimming nails with 4-inch folding knife

4. "Yes, I have 3 kids, I need all the diaper sizes you got"

3. Oh, "a mission to Outer Space", I thought you said, "a mission to bust her face" ....

2. Fills in emergency contact form: relationship: "... more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship"

1. One small step for [MY] man, one giant leap into a life sentence

online at: http://raslife2.blogspot.com

and pardon the graphic nature, but that was also one small stepout in diapers and a whole shitload of trouble for one astronaut!

Would you roll down your car window for THIS WOMAN (photo) ?

# posted by matthew : 2/06/2007 02:45:00 AM  2 Comments

Read about the making of airag here

I am not completely clear about the Ankle bone thing, but the Mongol Post reported that: "The Mongolia AnkleBone shooting Federation in Thailand(!) has demonstrated its sport to promote the national sport. Ankle bone shooting is a game played by two opponents in two teams and involves flicking small bullets (!) at ankle-bones arranged in a row." I'll keep you posted ...

Another ankle thingy: It seems the custom here is that if you accidentally kick someone's shoe or foot, you must shake their hand. I got kicked yesterday in a meeting - no harm no foul - but I did get a handshake.

# posted by matthew : 1/25/2007 10:07:00 AM  0 Comments

It also honors the first Mongolian to climb Everest, be a cosmonaut and explore Antacrtica - making Mongolia the 37th country to have someone go there - bet you didn;t know that ;-)

I also roamed the downtown area around "SukhBaatar" square where the main government buildings are, along with communist statues and leftover Soviet style boxy buildings.

There are tons of Korean restaurants here providing relief from Mongolia food, which is pretty much mutton: fried, grilled, and in soup. And fatty and kind of miserable

• 3 menu items I did not select: "Camel's foot with garlic": Ok, get the camel toe jokes over with
• Shrimp meat with kidney nuts - no comment
• and from the Vegetarian section: Tofu with meat

# posted by matthew : 1/22/2007 05:00:00 AM  0 Comments

I will try to get more details on this, but there is a local explanation that Mongolia has nine sets of '9 days', and we are the 4th one, the coldest one.

The first 9 days, it's cold enough to freeze milk, the second nine days cold enough to freeze oxtail, etc. this one is cold enough to freeze anything!

I registered with immigration since I am staying longer than 30 days, it cost $1.10 to do that and 5 minutes of my life, so I'm good to go until Feb 24th now. I'm not sure if any more 9-day periods hit while I'm here.... but when I went outside to go to immigration, it had "warmed up" again +5F(-15C)!

# posted by matthew : 1/19/2007 03:12:00 AM  0 Comments

Mongolia is called the Land of Blue Heaven. Will find out why and let you know. I've been at work 2 days, in the Ministry of Social Welfare and Labour, and have found the people to be very nice, friendly and warm. Nothing else about the place is warm - but it is sunny!

My hotel - the Chinggis Khan Hotel - is excellent with a pool, gym, adequate breakfast with egg chef and attached grocery store and little "mall" (very little) that is the biggest in UB (The capital city Ulaan Baatar).

There are exactly 2 Mongolian Buffet restaurants in UB, and the food is supposed to be good. Apart from eating once to experience real Mongolian food, I'll stick to Korean, Hungarian, and even a Ukrainian restaurant I've spotted. Mongolia food is .... mutton - fatty and salty and pretty much Blech!

# posted by matthew : 1/17/2007 11:48:00 AM  0 Comments

On my way to Mongolia for 6 weeks on a project for the Asian Development Bank to help the mongolian Governement establish a plan to modernize the Information Systems for the Social Security and Labour Ministry.

Today I had a 5 hour and 11 hour flight. The plane needed to be de-iced in Vancouver (so did the one leaving Torono) but I'm leaving the warm weather behind. The high in Mongolia will be -15C or so (4 F or so) in January, and the lows will be below -30.

Getting through Seoul airport was easy. Gentle, friendly place. A guy from the hotel showed up when I got Info desk to call, they had 3 other people in the van. We had a high speed drive in the dark along long roads with pretty much nothing in sight for about 15 mitnutes, then popped up at the hotel. Korean food in Korea! Kimchee and noodle/miso soup.

My hotel room has a PC in it, but I connected the Internet cord to my Laptop. It has a nice hot/cold water dispenser and my own vending machine!. CNN is the only English language channel and I also found the past Winter Olympics playing showing the Korean beat Canada and USA in the 5000 meter skating relay.

Breakfast then a 4 hour flight to the capital of Mongolia - Ulaan Baatar - tomorrow.

Labels: 2007, Mongolia

# posted by matthew : 1/14/2007 08:11:00 AM  0 Comments

Melanie and I traveled to Chiang Mai for the Wolrd InterHash event, where I MC'd the stage entertainment and we ran and partied with old and new friends. 5800 Hashers invaded Thailand for the event and the wolrd largest ever Red Dress Hash was held on the Thursday. That's right, over 2400 wackos in Red Dresses (technically Iwas in a cape) wandered through Chiang Mai.

The Hash was great but we had some great travel ahead. My usual cast iron stomach failed and on a flight from Bangkok to Siem Reap Cambodia I sprinted to the lavatory and just made it - unfortunately I didn't get the toilet seta up and projectile vomited into the mirror. I'll spare you further details but it took me cups and about 5 inches of paper towels to clean up the little room while the tiny Thai stewardesses just went about serving drinks to all the passengers NOT throwing up.

I ended up with a fever and stayed in bed the rest of the day, our first in Cambodia. I rallied the next day - and Melanie fell ill the next afternoon. So we managed to see the amazing Angkor Wat temples together and apart for 3 days.

Before we headed to Viet Nam we visited the volunteer run landmine museum and landmine clearing project (http://cambodialandminemuseum.org/)

Labels: Asia, InterHash

# posted by matthew : 11/15/2006 12:02:00 PM  0 Comments

OK, not of my best moments as a human being but pretty fun :-)

A Beer Mile ( http://beermile.com) involves, as one can sure guess, running a mile and drinking beer, things I have done most of my life - since I was 14. Well, not the beer part, I stepped onto the track and did my first 5 minute mile when I was 14

The days of sub 5-minute miles are gone for me, and the days of drinking like a college student are, well, at least less frequent. The Beer Mile, DC Hash style makes some variations from the 'Official" BeerMile © rules:

• 6 beers instead of the usual 4
• Drink your 72 ounces of beer any time from the gun to finish (official beer mile rules are: drink a beer, run a lap -repeat 3 more times). Which made me think there needs to be the Beer 10K/marathon ©, using the beer/lap rules: 25 laps=10K, and a case of beer - you get the first lap free with no beer.
• Yes, I realize that is a very bad idea and it would likely kill most of the participants - it was joke!!!
• Drink from any vessel you like. In an official BeerMile © one must drink from the original bottle or can and no 'wide-mouth' bottles are allowed.
• There is no gun; although one might have been advised in the neighborhood we were in. The "track" was basically a macadam road inside a fence with a soccer field in the middle. Just like roads in some bad DC neighborhoods, this one was littered with water and soft drink bottles on the edge and little bits of broken glass in spots, cracks, pothoes, etc.

So, you see, it is not so much about the running, and (readers with good taste or sensitivities are advised to stop reading at this point)...

There is an award for 'best vomit', which seems like a sane idea to get as much of the 72 ounces of hastily consumed (usually cheap) beer out as quickly as possible!

Oh, I finished in 8:08, 2nd place out of about 30 whackos who showed up early Friday evening to participate in front at least that many fans and supporters sitting in stands leisurely drinking beers from their own coolers.

In 20 months, I plan to set the world age group record for the offical BeerMile ©!

# posted by matthew : 8/05/2006 08:22:00 AM  1 Comments

I forgot to mention that we went to the Olympic ski jump in Oslo which was used or the Stockholm Games. There, I rode the simulator which did the ski jump and the Lillihammer downhill ski run.

The Olympic city theme continued as we visited Innsbruck and Munich, though we didn't get to Munich Olympic Stadium, which was being used for the World Cup.

One place we did visit in Munich was the Dachau 'work camp' site of the famous metal sign 'Work Will Set You Free'. It is a moving experience to visit the place, now the site of reconstructed sample barracks, several relgious memorials and a museum. The original baracks are all gone, they have marked them and left the gravel lot empty where 32 baracks, each 10 by 100 meters stood.

Each baracks was originally designed for 208 men, some held as many as 1900 when the allies liberated the camp. they had gas chambers but none at Dachau were used. over 200,000 people passed through and 30,000 were experiemented n, executed or died miserable deaths from diseases like typhus.

# posted by matthew : 6/04/2006 12:14:00 PM  0 Comments

• Just becasue it is light in Stockholm, it doesn't mean it is time to get up--- unless you like getting up at 3:25 a.m.
• If you build the most expensive ship in history and it sinks after 20 minutes, that doesn't have to end up a bad thing. See the Swedish 'Vasa' museum for a great tourism project. www.vasamuseet.se

# posted by matthew : 6/04/2006 12:14:00 PM  0 Comments

Stockholm is a great city. Most amazing stuff includes the Vasamuseet, the museum of the resurrected 1628 ship which sunk after 20 minutes. Found in 1956, surfaced in 1961 and in the museum after 17 years spaying with polymer coating in 1988, it is a fascinating story and amazing 'BIG BOAT'.

Nearby in the Skanka area with an outdoor park, museum and zoo and where I bought a hunk of dried reindeer meet which is great snack food.

# posted by matthew : 6/04/2006 12:10:00 PM  0 Comments

Flåm (pronounced like Tom) is a one horse tourist stop at the end of the spectacular 55 minute descent train from Myrdal, on the way from Oslo to Bergen. We missed the last boat to Aurland and the 6:30 bus showed up at 7:25 and we headed to the relatively big town of Aurland.

There appeared to be one other hotel guest in Aurland - none at our hotel though and we made dinner and breakfast in a huge kitchedn with spectacular fjord views. Waterfalls every few hundred yards poured like milk from atop and out of th e middle like sigots in the mountainside.

Highlight? a crazy woman talkig to a lamp post for 10 minutes.

# posted by matthew : 6/04/2006 06:22:00 AM  0 Comments

Actually on the 2nd day of the trip we did 5 modes of public transport: cruise shipp, ferry, bus, Tram and underground train (t-bane).

In sevral towns we seem to find 'the last hotel room available'. Although we are ahead of the start of tourist season we have bumped into a classifcal music conference in Oslo, the 2 week conference season in Copenhagen and the Stockholm Marathon and 'Taste Stockholm'.

We walked the final couple km of the marathon and sat in Olympic stadium to watch the finishers pour in for about an hour.

After the awesome train, racthet wheel train, fjord ferry, and mountain bus ride between Oslo and Bergen, we bolted early from Bergen to the sun of Sweden. Bergen boast 60 days of sunshine per year and it didn't look like there were going to be any this week

# posted by matthew : 6/04/2006 06:15:00 AM  0 Comments

No, I did not get married.

When I booked 2 persons for the Copenhagen to Oslo overnight cruise, I apparently clicked on the 'Mrs.' salutation for myself and Mr. for Andy so they put us into separate cabins. Each of the low price cabins we got (cheaper with our 25 % eurail discount) has 4 people in them. However, no one else in either of poru cabins, so we have 8 beds between us.

Copenhagen is a fairly expensive town and doesn't really have that much to offer, at least pre-summer. The buskers were few but people watching was was better Tuesday with more sunshine. We found a great vegetarian mediterranean buffet for $35 with a bottle of wine and 2 meals which was about $20 less than a cafe lunch cost.

The hotels were virtually all full, we got the last room in Hotel Windsor in a great location, which we stumbled into after asking at a women's boutique for directions to another hotel. The hotel reception was 4 flights up; $90 for a double rom with a sink. Toilet and shower down the hall. And a big black labrador outside the door in the morning.

I managed to forget my fleece and bought one for $1.60 out of a cardboard box on the street in Copenhagen.

We arrive in Oslo tomorrow morning and plan to take 'the best train ride in Europe' to Bergen the next day - 7 hours, 300 tunnels and 200 bridges with a steep descent to the fjords...

When I find a net cafe which lets me USB connect I'll post photos of all this...

# posted by matthew : 5/30/2006 02:53:00 PM  1 Comments

OK, I am not going anywhere cool - for at least 8 days, when I go to Europe for 17 days with my college roommate (ex).

So why write? It occurred to me that with all the fuss and furor over 'Identity Theft', there has been little attention paid to the growing crime and nefarious act of 'Personality Theft'

Yes, that's right, there is another risk out there in the scary world; someone could actually - using new technology - steal your personality!

What is truly scary about this crime is that you do not even have to be a credit card user - although early reports seem to indicate people without credit cards are distinctly lacking in personality. That is not to say that EVERY credit card user HAS a personality. In fact it is almost the opposite, and credit cards users may be able to breathe a little easier knowing that most of the early victims of this horrific crime have not been active credit card users (and they also did not have yappy little dogs).

What are the symptoms of Personality Theft?
Initial reports link these activities to post Identify Theft complications ...

• Excessive watching of 'COPS' along with many other TV shows too numerous to list
• Use of cell phones in public places, on public transport (even when there is actually someone on the other end of the line - people who have conversations with people who are not reallythere have EXTRA/Multiple personalities and shold actually seek out to have at least one of them stolen)
• more than 4 hours / day spent at no less than 2 Starbucks locations - especially if the person doesn't like coffee

What can one do if they suspect their personality has been stolen?
First of all, don't panic. There are several web based firms who will help you rebuild your personality. For a fee they will analyze your credit record, buying patterns, cell phone usage, etc. and reconstruct a profile which you can follow and simulate your previus personality.
Other firms will actually come into your home, examine your wardrobe, personal hygeine and habits and for a fee - based on how disgusting the above turned out to be - tell you whether or not you are better off without your old personality.

What can one do to protect themself from Personality Theft?

To be continued... If you want more, leave a comment and I'll expound on this further....

I apologize for this post, I do not know what came over me, but I just had to write it.

# posted by matthew : 5/19/2006 07:27:00 AM  0 Comments

On the way into work (I am now working at home from about 5 a.m. - so I can communicate with Baghdad before they leave work for the day +8 hours from EDT) I noticed a one-day conference for COGNOS software in the Ronald Reagan Bldg. So I registered and dropped in.

I only atended the main afternoon session which featured Ted Koppel as Keynote speaker. He is - as you might imagine - shorter than he looks on TV, and a fantastic speaker. The first 15 minutes included stories about people spotting him and talking to him as a celebrity, Henry Kissinger leaving his fly down on an Air Force One flight, and his dog's digestive problems and the solution involving frozen vegetables.

Ted also had some great views to share on changes in journalism and politics. When he started out - he was one of the network's 30 or so overseas correspondents. He said ABC now has 5 - none in China, none in India, ...

But the highlight of the day, no doubt, at least for Ted, was getting his picture taken with me. When I get it in the mail, I'll post it

# posted by matthew : 5/11/2006 07:48:00 AM  0 Comments

16:55 Yesterday, we booked a van to take 5 of us to the HeloPad 5 minutes drive from USAID and across from the PX, next to the Palace/Embassy. "Showtime" is one hour before scheduled flight time and we were fairly confident that we would get to go and not get bumped because a Marine Colonel who works at USAID was 1 of our 5 and booked the Helo.

17:00 we arrived at "Landing Zone Washington" and all put on our helmets and flack jackets and rolled our luggage up to the barriers and 2 helochoppers landed (they kick up a lot of air). Col. Brazee checked in and they told him, those were our birds, so let's go.

15:20: We landed at a different spot at the Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) and were driven to 'Camp Sulley', a new facility with bedroom-only 1 and 2-bed trailers, a TV lounge, men's and womens' lavatories and showers, and a 'Coming soon' Internet cafe. We got a ride to the DFAC to eat, the PX to kill time and back to Camp Sulley.

21:13 Tired, I lay down to read

21:15 Fell asleep (all lights on)

Wednesday

03:15 Woke up after 6 hours sleep. That is about the most straight sleep I've gotten in 6 weeks, with no blast(ed) interuptions. Was hoping I wouldn't be up for good.

??? (not long after 03:15) turned off lights, fell asleep

06:35 Woke up, fully rested

07:25 they drove our luggage about 200 feet to where we check in for the MilAir flight to Amman. We were joined by the Supervisory Executive Officer (EXO), who I had worked with all the time in Baghdad. (Amazing lady who has done it all). Good thing.

8:25, Checking in, the man says, "I just need to see you Military ID and your orders". Then: "Sorry, sir, I can't let you onto this flight - these orders are expired." Yes, well, I was supposed to leave by April 10th, Then I and USAID decided I should stay longer. I did not need new orders to stay longer, THAT I was told. However, I did need new orders to LEAVE LATER, that I forgot to ask about.

a blur of time (knowing that the flight briefing is at 9:30 - 60 minutes) and the next plane (which I could get on) is in 4 days...

9:10 My buddy Mohamed, from Uganda, with direction from the EXO, whipped up a Travel Authorization, scanned and emailed it to the check in desk at BIAP

9:11 The golden words: "You're all set".

I'm in Amman Jordan and heading out to find sushi!

# posted by matthew : 5/03/2006 09:07:00 AM  1 Comments

When I got up yesterday, I had passed a threshold: 43 days in Iraq. That means money. Part of the incentives / compensation for living in a place where they risk of mortars is slightly higher than Johnstown, PA, is that after 43 days in Iraq, an extar 35% pay (for 5 days/week) get paid retoractively from day 1 and onward.

That, along with the 35% danger pay, paid from day 1, makes a 70% bonus. People working here as employees (not me) also get %20 for the expected overtime for which they are no longer paid.

I am looking forward to not working a day - may next weekend, when I visit Cairo, before flying back to USA. It'll be 2 months since I had a day off. And I feel great, the work has been fun, the people great and the food - well it was always there.

Was it dangerous? I didn't feel concerned except for about 90 seconds of the entire time. If you read about the Egypt bombings recently, we all know danger is everywhere, 2 Hashers were victims and were medevaced to Germany to have their leg bones reset and start PT and recovery.

# posted by matthew : 4/30/2006 11:23:00 PM  1 Comments

Let me be clear, I am loving it and this is not a complaint, I've worked 44 straight days and have had a ball. The people here at the USAID compound are great. But the fact that I spend most of my day either at the office or working on a laptop in mytrailer using a computer mean I have put my eyes through boot camp

When several people tell me my eyes look like my shirt (which isn't good since I more often than wearing a traditional white work short, wear some silly shiny silk shirt from Thailand, and in this case a reddish-orange one!) I know it's time to work in some eye-breaks.

To the rescue: the exploding salad dressing foil packs!

Why spend exorbitant money (using the $11/day per diem we get while in Baghdad) on frilly eye masks and balms, when I can just take "fat-Free Ranch dressing" in a foil pack straight from the fridge, lay down with it over my eyes and ... bliss!

Yes, I realize I need to come home soon!

# posted by matthew : 4/25/2006 11:56:00 PM  0 Comments

(and Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom and Boom!)

I was "dooking" after #2, and helmet-on and under my mattress somewhere between #5 and #6. At the pause, I jumped up and put the door ajar to avoid blown in windows if any percussive blasts got close

I sometimes act a bit like a cynic when people tell me they 'knew something was going to happen.' It's not that I think they are lying, it's just that I know our subconcious thinks all kinds of things all the time and when something actually does happen, we forget that there were 1001 things we thought would happen and one of them sort of actually did. It doesn't mean we didn't think of it, it's just we have a batting average of 1 for 1001 and make a big deal out of the 1.

Then again, those crazy coincidences are amazing and when something happens in close proximity to the time one had the feeling, I'm a believer.

Maybe I'll just use the elliptical machine in a flack jacket!

# posted by matthew : 4/25/2006 11:42:00 PM  0 Comments

Last night was Indian night in the cafe (as usual on Saturday nights), with, for this place, great chick peas and cauliflower Indian versions along with that mildly spiced chicken and shrimp. It could have been several orders of magnitude hotter to suit me. The shrimp are a bit scary - they are all exactly the same shape and texture, I'm not sure they're from this planet.

So I wonder if someone is reading my draft blogs! Today's lunch had grilled salmon and platefuls of smoked salmon. Then dinner at Da Palace! I worked 11 hours today and joined a couple colleagues who left after 7:30 so we could hit the Embassy chow hall before closing. Prime rib and lobster tails are the Sunday night usual offerings, which were great and the place (called the DFAC) was decorated for Easter.

But, the big news is they broke out the good china!

I should say they broke out THE china. Usually we eat there on plastic plates with plastic utensils. But in celebratory style, we had real plates (we have real plates every day at the USAID cafe) and real silverware. And whether you prefer Coke or Pepsi, Diet Pepsi is like nectar after the only diet cola availble for a month has been local "Coke light."

# posted by matthew : 4/16/2006 12:23:00 PM  0 Comments

RKO records presents the greatest hits from USAID in the Green Zone in Baghdad, who can forget that song we pull out when celebratory gunfire is heard...?

Bullets keep fallin' on my head,
But that doesn't mean I am going to turn up dead,
Duck and Cover is no lie,
But - Someones's got to do some explainin' -
(please) Don't shoot the sky!

And then that song about the Personal Security Detail (armed guards who accompany USAID staff out of the IZ) from the old country ...with the Sound of Music

We're Super U S A I D-ers guarded by P S D's
When we go out in our flack jackets we cannot hardly breathe
After work (When's That?!) we like to swim at Pool Liberty<
But we cannot float while while holding onto our P S Ds

And then From - rest his soul - the great Sammy Davis Jr

more to come!

# posted by matthew : 4/12/2006 09:57:00 AM  0 Comments

I got lunch at Da Palace and pocketed a few foil packs of fat free ranch dressing since I really can't stand to eat buttermilk ranch dressing any more than 22 days in a row. Out cafe hasn't come through with the Cesar dressing that I asked them to make (fair enough they are not a custom shop, except they do whip up omelets on demand). And I should mention I ate lobster tails last night at Da Palace.

With my clean getaway, I felt a refreshing, cool sensation in my pocket - wait, that isn't the pocket where I have the can of Diet Pepsi from the PX! One of the foil packs of salad dressing decided to explode in my pocket.

But now I'm afraid of the contents since my thick Khaki pants didn't show anything... Shouldn't something organic actually be absorbed by cotton-y pants and show through. Maybe I have super-pockets in them and didn't know it...

I'm happy not to have big stain on the front of my pants but do I eat this salad dressing tomorrow at lunch? It's that or day 23 of Buttermilk ranch... (there are just so many titles: how about "Back at the Ranch" :)

# posted by matthew : 4/10/2006 01:20:00 PM  0 Comments

I bought 8 DVDs from a hole in the wall shop in the compound with the sports field. So will catch up on the latest movies. The photo is just outsid my trailer; no cats this morning but that was yesterday's scene when I came back from brunch.

# posted by matthew : 4/08/2006 11:49:00 PM  0 Comments

And now this.

The first thing I saw was my new neighbors: the cats who huddle on a towel just outside the trailer across from mine (2-B). There are many cats on the USAID compound and they are bold, one of the yellow ones desperately wants into my trailer, which brings up another thing, occasionally I hear birds but I hardly ever see any - although chopper fly overhead regularly.

Melanie was the first to email me after midnight here and say Happy Birthday on April 7th, you've 14 hours and 19 minutes left!

I'm not the only one craving attention! See Help me win my bet - adult subject matter

# posted by matthew : 4/07/2006 12:09:00 AM  0 Comments

Yesterday morning there was a boom in the middle distance followed by a PA call to "duck and cover. duck and cover." It is done in the voice of one of the South American (Peruvian) security guards (who are polite, dedicated and great to work with) on the USAID compound and sounds like "dook" (rhymes with 'book') and "cOvair". I thought up a skit if our planned comedy show comedy happens (planned for next week or the one after) : A guy in helmet and flack jacket goes to pee. He is obviously uncomfortable with the gear and is confused what to do with it while he pees. He takes his helmet off and puts it down. Picks it back up and puts it on and tries to take the jacket (actually a vest) off over his head. Takes his helmet back off, takes the jacket off and puts it between his legs to hold it while he puts his helmet back on. As he unzips the zipper gets stuck on the vest. Just then a call of 'Dook and covair" comes and he panics. The security calls intensify as he tried to free himself from the vest and ends up rotating and spinning and slamming himself with the vest around his groin. When he finally crumples into a heap, he ends up standing up with the flack jacket pulled on like pants covering his crotch. Looks around, shrugs and goes out.

I also have a bunch of Dick Cheney bits. One is Dick coming in saying "I shot another one, call the press." "Another one what?" "Another Republican!". "How?" "We were out in the woods trying to get something - a trophy - something to stuff and hang on the wall and I mistook hm for game."
"Oh no." I don't get it -again?" "Yes! Call the media!"
"What did you think he was that you shot him?" .... " a TROUT!".

Maybe also have a bunch of one-lines by a new anchor throughout: "Dick Cheney today was rejected as a starter for the Boston Marathon. He has been asked to be a ceremonial starter for the historical race but was rejected when he insisted on launching the race with a machine gun." They almost write themselves

The "All Clear" came about 8 minutes after the Dook&cOvair -I took off my helmet and vest (and freed my zipper) and went back into bed.

Then in the afternoon we heard a loud boom much closer - I was working in the supposedly bomb-proof office building, but could feel a very slight tremor with the boom. Another 'Dook and cOvair' announcement but all we have to do inside the office is stay away from the windows.

# posted by matthew : 3/29/2006 02:31:00 PM  0 Comments

We met after dark Friday night near Saddam's Place (one of the 63 he had), 3 women and about 20 men, mostly military, ran through the streets of the IZ, doign what Hasher;s do: chasing "hare's" who laid a trail of flour blobs, false trails and checkpoints that took us past the tomb of the unknown soldier, rows of humvees, fortified walls and various compounds yelling "On On" and "Are You?" to communicate the pack that we were on trail or wondering who was.

On On (On)The trail finished in a gated villa where we did the Hash 'circle' and Down-Downs in the grass, with ice seats for the offenders, and named 4 hash virgins, including one elder Scotsman who protested loudly when his new Hash name of "English Rose" was announced - his real name is Rosie (not sure how he spells that.)
Then we headed to a giant party with an open bar somewhere with some group (I never found out who) but it was a lively gathering and filled with a mix of civilians and military from all over.

The disco at USAID After all that I returned to USAID to join the outdoor party in progress in the compound with dancing festivities into the wee hours.

Photos and more detals are coming for this post. check back later.

# posted by matthew : 3/25/2006 01:02:00 PM  0 Comments

I then picked up my 'Full metal jacket' and helmet whcih will be with me until I depart Iraq though I didn;t have to put it on until preparing for the Balck Hawk 4 minute flight into the IZ (international Zone).

This entry is being updated - please check back for final version!

# posted by matthew : 3/22/2006 07:00:00 AM  0 Comments

Boarding. More than an hour later than expected we were told to 'get on the bus' for the short ride to the waiting, cmao-green C-130 4-propeller plane, sitting with it's back end open and several soldires directing us inside.

Window Seat I went in almost first on the left side of the middle column and took the second seat since the first had a helmet on it. The seat was a red nylon base with nylon webbing forming the back and hanging from a pole running the length of the aircraft. Our backs were to the port side of the aircract and we faced across the body - sideways from how one sites in a commercail aircraft. 12 inches from my knees were the knees of a sleepy looking civilian in a baseball cap. Once we took off, a huge soldier strapped in next to me, his sidearm digging in to my hip. As we settled in wearing our required earplugs, most people slept, after the scenery below disappeared I read until 'civilization' reappeared below. I watch up cross the Tigris and start the spiral descent into Baghdad Interantional Airport (BIAP). I had been warned 'don't eat' before the flight, but since I ended up on a military flight instead of a smaller Airserv jet, it was hardly noticeable when we spun into the airport.

The pre-flight briefing. A female soldier told us to fasten our seat belts and explained the oxygen masks, which one puts ocmpletely over their heads and 'breathes normally.' We were also told, that in the event of a requirement to disembark in an emergency my side of the lane was to go to the nearest exit - the gaping backside of the aircraft. The other side would go out the front.

A safe and smooth landing!

# posted by matthew : 3/20/2006 08:14:00 AM  0 Comments

A cool thing about Jerash (named Philadelphia in ancient times) - which I have visited several times - they keep finding new stuff. Today we saw a mosaic tile floor only uncovered one month ago and a church that was underground the previous time I visited. And there are apparently another dozen churches and a half mile of Roman Road left to uncover. We hired Akram, for $10 as a guide and wandered for about 2 hours. A policeman walked right across the mosaic, which was roped off, so I yelled at him and told him not to do it again (in Arabic), he sheepishly nodded and headed off.

We had a great mezze lunch at an open air Lebanese restaurant near the ruins and I am now repacking for tomorrow morning's flight to Baghdad Internatial Air Port (BIAP).

# posted by matthew : 3/18/2006 01:44:00 PM  0 Comments

Here in Jordan, there seem to be NO traffic rules, and virtually no mototrcycles. Since the last time I was here they have lifted the ban on motorcycles in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, but I haven't spotted any bikes yet. That's probably agood thing. The driving is the same bizarre anything-goes as in Cairo but at higher speeds.

# posted by matthew : 3/17/2006 06:05:00 AM  0 Comments

There have been obvious security issues in the news plus some administrative happenings which made my scheduled flights from Amman to Baghdad not available. Next plan is a military flight on Sunday morning.

# posted by matthew : 3/17/2006 04:46:00 AM  0 Comments

I just had a great breakfast at the 4 Seasons (Amman) Hotel, featuring fresh hommous and of course, Foul Medames. Foul (pronounced "fuul") - a staple of the Egyptian diet - always reminds me of the title of this blog. I see a waiter offering it to a visiting Ameican tourist and her saying "NO! I haven't even had any beans yet!"

Sorry. Foul beans are fava beans ladled out of a deep gold or bonze colored cooking pot where they have slow cooked and simmered with spices.

I'm off on the 'carnival ride' fight to Baghdad tomorrow, which I just confirmed, there are no flashing lights - as far as I know - but they don't put they air sickness bags on this flight just for show! - Can't you just hardly wait for updates? :-)

# posted by matthew : 3/15/2006 02:29:00 AM  0 Comments

My bathroom in my room at the 4 Seasons Hotel in Amman is bigger than some hotel rooms I've had in Asia ...( http://www.fourseasons.com/amman/index.html)

I have time now to work out and get a Thai meal - along with some Arab hommous!

# posted by matthew : 3/14/2006 01:46:00 PM  0 Comments

With that fun over, I'll actually be doing office work when I get to Baghdad at the USAID mission. I've got a new digital camera and will take pictures of everything I am permitted to, so watch this spot!

# posted by matthew : 3/12/2006 05:31:00 PM  0 Comments

I was out on my bike, as usual. Not as usual, I was perhaps the only person out biking tonight after 9:30 p.m. in D.C. It was more pleasant than a couple of days ago with cold rain. I have found a combination of fleeces and coats to wear to keep me warm on my bus commute.

I may get in trouble for this but I need to introduce Melanie. See the cutie in the middle of the Red Dress photo in the "I see Red People" post? That's Mel. My dear long time friend "Rose Eh" is on the opposite far right. Melanie is of Ukranian descent, scary smart, scary sense of humor as well. I'd explain how she thinks but I can't since I don't quite understand it. But it's great the way she does it. And she's fom Canada and in Canada, which presents a challenge - especially if she is the one who sent this snowstorm!

# posted by matthew : 11/23/2005 10:59:00 PM  0 Comments

This past weekend was the DC Hash 12th annual Red Dress Hash. I've been on larger and smaller Red Dress Hashes, I've even started the first annual Red Dress Hash in Egypt (maybe Africa?), but seldom had more fun.

If you have no clue what it's about, it's a party. As you may have heard, the Hash House Harriers is a "Drinking Club with a Running Problem." In fact it is hundreds (more than 1000) of very small clubs, who share no management or organizational structure beyond the individual club. But we share a culture and many (happily bizarre and irreverent) traditions.

link to The History of Red Dress Hashing Ths weekend, as always with the Hash, was put on by a small group of organizers completely volunteer. They easily recruited many people to help and when things don't go as planned, everyone keeps drinking dancing and smiling anyway.

Friday night, about 400 Hashers had a "Lingerie' Hash completely within the D.C. area and partied on in a bar reserved for us till the wee hours. Saturday started at noon, in Virgina, with a 3 hour 'warmup' at a bar. Then 500 of us ran/walked (running is definitely NOT a requirement of Hashing) across the Key bridge, through posh Georgetown, where we had, as you might imagine, quite an effect on the traffic. We finished in downtown D.C. and danced til 9:00; then a Hasher hosted a party in the District til more wee hours. Of course, the Hashers also had 'Hangover Hashes' on Sunday. Great fun, great friends, new and old.

Note: photos are 'adult' but not pornographic:
a link to see professional photos of all 500 red dresses! | more Red Dress photos

# posted by matthew : 10/03/2005 08:25:00 PM  0 Comments

I also found the Capital Cresent Trail, Dumbarton Oaks park and other biking areas. In literally 4 minutes I can be biking along the Potomac river or a canal in a tunnel of trees. Waterfalls, packed trails, woods! all around the city/district.

I wanted to check out the route for bike commuting for work and ended up stopping at yard sales, farmers markets and finally ended up at the mall. THE 'Mall'. With Washington Monument at one end and the Lincoln Memorial at another. I pedalled by the White house and made stops at the monuments/memorials of Lincoln, Washing and Jefferson.

What is the difference between a monument and a memorial? I found out today on a 3 hour tour of 'Monuments off the beaten track', done by bike, led by 2 National Park rangers. (go ahead and ask ...). Complete with great stories (which I will start to write about here) these tours are done every Saturday and Sunday and com in many varieties - next week ' Washington is burning'. Rwanda note: Cheadle Visits 'Hotel Rwanda' for 1st Time
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050821/ap_en_mo/cheadle_rwanda

# posted by matthew : 8/21/2005 09:18:00 PM  0 Comments

I bought a new, very basic mountainy-y bike with front shocks and wide tires and 21 gears. And the best lock I could get. D.C. bikes thieves are not like those in Amsterdam but they are opportunity thieves who seize a chance if it is presented. My housemate just had her front tire stolen a week ago.

I use the recommended double lock - a cable through the front tire, locked to a U-lock through the frame and back tire. Just the snare-look should discourage most thieves.

# posted by matthew : 8/15/2005 09:59:00 PM  0 Comments

2 weeks of work have passed already and now that I am housed, I can start cementing my routines. There is a branch of WSC (the gym I joined) 6 blocks from here and one 3 blocks from work. The closest bus line is 1/2 block away but another good one is 2 blocks away. After hearing tales at the gym from people who live in Adams Morgan (of drunks passed out on their doorsteps - not homeless people, just college-kid type drunks, and not just this once...) I am very glad to be Georgetown's newest resident.

Oh, and the house has all the cable channels including the naughty ones and all ON-DEMAND. Why aren't a lot more services ON DEMAND? What about voting? Why wait till November - vote when YOU want. And Birthdays, sick of celebrating in the dead of winter, have an on-demand birthday party. You can legally change your name, why not your birthday? Sorry, I digress...

# posted by matthew : 8/06/2005 07:53:00 AM  0 Comments

When I asked about the closet, the landlady said 'it's HUGE!" so I brought plenty of clothes. Turns out there are 2 small sofa n the bedroom, no clothes dresser and a closet that is ... Hmmm, not HUGE. It is bigger than the smallest closet I've ever seen and apparently FOR GEORGETOWN, it is pretty big but not a walk-in.

# posted by matthew : 8/02/2005 06:13:00 AM  0 Comments

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ghosts/video/

# posted by matthew : 6/16/2005 10:37:00 AM  0 Comments

I did find - with the help of Abdul from the Internet cafe - an after hours barbershop when the rest of Kigali shut down at 7 p.m.

A haircut costs $3 - $4 for me since they thought they could get it I guess - and they are not very experienced at cutting muzungu's hair. Based on the reaction of the managers and the barbers, it seems not a lot of muzungus have ever been in this shop.

He started out good, using the longest shear attachment but pretty much just kept going and cut my hair just like all the other patrons in the other 9 chairs in the place.

CAPMER staff took me out for a quick drink yesterday afternoon after work and gave me some thank you cards, a gorilla (just a ceramic one), a Rwanadan handicraft basket and a great large wood carving showing traditional African activities (photo to follow someday).

12 hours in aircraft down, I'll be sleeping in Amsterdam and flying to Jax via Detroit tomorrow for another 12+ day of travel.

On On

# posted by matthew : 5/25/2005 12:07:00 PM  0 Comments

My efforts well graciously received, lavishly thanked and my recommendations almost immediately implemented.

And I gave away T-shirts! I found a local 'artists' and designed the simple T-shirt layout with him and he hand printed them. It was interesting - I just had a meeting with him and am trying to help him get more business and funding for equipment - He had never had a foreigner come to his 'shop'.

I quote it because his 'shop' / office is the size of a closet. And he said they had never seen a white man walk down the alley and around the corners and approach any of them.

Didn't seem like a big deal to me. I saw a sign that said T-shirts/rubber stamps and just prowled around till I found it. It was amusing because I went several times and it was only tonight that he mentioned it. I think he was still a little stunned. He is talented and has the kind of drive that makes an entrepreneur work in a closet and have his own business. I truly admire him and people like that.

Below you'll see me and my counterpart who I have worked beside for these last 6 weeks, pestering, driving, haranguing and very much enjoying getting to know, Edouard. I will miss him.

He's a polite, very intelligent young man with a great sense of humor. Like so many Rwandans I met.

# posted by matthew : 5/23/2005 01:21:00 PM  0 Comments

And Kigali was closed again on Saturday morning, which was the period I had scheduled for memento shopping. I mean EVERYTHING was closed. The town is abuzz with the coming COMESA conference and with 1200- 1400 delegates coming, Rwandans are being asked to open their homes to handle the hotel overflow.

I am trying to do a little more than just http://capmer.org - I put together a skeleton web site for the National Post Office (http://ismybirthday.com/iposita) over the weekend. The online skeleton is an outline of the proposed web site which - if they accept it - I will do from the States. There is a nice picture of some stamps of mountian gorillas I found and put there.

Alas, I really miss my soaked digital camera ... but one can never go wrong with more pictures of smiling African kids!

# posted by matthew : 5/23/2005 01:21:00 AM  0 Comments

Weather report: Well the "Rainy" season seems to have ended. Before I came to Rwanda I packed a serious raincoat in anticipation of the 'unceasing rain' during April and May. Well, not this year - another perfect sunny and warm day.

A most common sight - in fact a non-stop view on my drive from "Hotel Rwanda' to CAPMER - is the building of sidewalks. There are manual laborers digging, measuring and laying down cement blocks along just about every road.

Another notable thing in Kigali are the drainage ditches. Alongside many of the streets in downtown Kigali there are uncovered drainage ditches about 2 feet deep. They are clean and functional. On the few occasions when it DID rain, the streets stayed dry and passable - unlike northern Florida where I live! The only problem is that they are uncovered and - although it would NEVER happen to me ;) - I have heard tales of some people stumbling into them and banging up ankles. (no groin injuries though)

Enjoy the weekend. I have only 4 more days left in lovely Kigali.

OK, I admit it, I am ready for SOMETHING ELSE FOR BREAKFAST. The hotel is great, but that breakfast buffet is OLD now! but the view is nice :)! see below

# posted by matthew : 5/20/2005 03:25:00 AM  0 Comments

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is having a summit conference at the end of May. The summit, expected to draw over 1200 delegates from 20 Comesa member states will focus on crucial issues in trade liberalization, customs cooperation, industry and energy, transportation, communications and economic and social development. I heard a rumor that Bill Gates will be here. The President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, will take over as COMESA chairman.

So, as a long term guest of the hotel, I get special treatment - I get kicked out like everyone else! I received a letter which I had to sign which said I agreed to leave the hotel before 28 May and not return until after June 3. And I could not leave anything for storage there. People staying at one of the other 2 main large Kigali hotels got the same letter. The conference will be hosted at the Intercontinental hotel, just down the road from the U.S. Embassy.

So I arranged - to the hotel's delight - to leave 4 days earlier than scheduled. My work is almost completely done - building a web site is just a start - CAPMER's real work of making the web site effective is just beginning.

More cute Rwandan kids:

# posted by matthew : 5/18/2005 09:00:00 AM  0 Comments

I preach against giving beggars money. It encourages them to BE beggars. Give them food, help, medicine, books, wheelchairs, clothes, etc. but not money - that's what I say anyway.

So I hand out found sometimes to the many people asking for help on the streets in Rwanda. They are not so pushy, although some of the kids put in a good effort, claiming to be starving then sprinting off towards a new 'mark'.

One man I met while walking took me to an office were a Canadian firm is casting for extras in a film. I depart 25 May so will not be able to get involved (I enjoyed being an extra in Egypt a few times).

This man, Claude, also happens to be a judge at "Gacaca" (Ga-cha-cha) the Genocide tribunals. And he promised to take me on Sunday to attend on the the trials. I will try to hire a translator since everything is done in the local language Kinyarwanda, but even if I can't I want to get the 'feel' of the proceedings.

So if the good news is that you are spared photos of my injured groin, the down side is my camera is wrecked and I will work to get some photos from the past collection and other sources...

# posted by matthew : 5/17/2005 10:19:00 AM  0 Comments

I also browse the local tabloids available here and found the article below in a Ugandan paper - click on the link for an analysis of your social situation... :)

Are you Henpecked?

# posted by matthew : 5/16/2005 01:51:00 PM  0 Comments

After dark (here near the equator sunset is always about 6 p.m.) Our 3 car caravan with 25 people stopped on the roadside for a 'nature call' I jumped out to photograph the 'offenders' and angling for a view ... stepped off the edge of the road and fell 10 feet into a drainage canal.

Here is a BEFORE picture - with some of the kids crowding around to watch the shenanigans of a Hashers ceremony

There appeared no way back up from the ditch thigh deep in water ; there were just flat vertical cement walls - the quick human chain didn't seem capable of lifting me. And the path to the edge where the cement angled down was blocked by THICK brush. So I went through the dark tunnel under the road and on the other side was able to crawl out and back up to the road.

Once everyone found out I was not seriously hurt - they could laugh and enjoy the event - see the photo below just AFTER.

I trashed my camera in the fall into the water, the project mobile phone BUT NOT my photo ram card! I have tons of scratches and scrapes and a slight pull of a groin muscle but feel extremely lucky ... This mental error could have had much worse consequences.

I went to the clinic today and will be scrubbing and disinfecting, etc. and should be fine with a just a great story as the legacy.

The Hash run in the countryside was fabulous and we stayed maybe just a bit too long in the village as the gathering kids and crowd were a little overwhelming.

Enjoy the photos below of another beautiful area of Rwanda ... and watch where you step!

# posted by matthew : 5/15/2005 11:02:00 AM  0 Comments

The journey from Kigali to and form the park was an adventure in itself - but that is for next time

The photos may not be spectacular - no flash is allowed but they remind me of the sights, smells and sounds of this amazing morning.

# posted by matthew : 5/13/2005 03:35:00 AM  0 Comments

Just in case you have forgotten what I look like or never met me, your humble author appears below, hard at work on Capmer.org web site not a stunner but will benefit Rwanda Small business and quite an accomplishment in 30 days - I am very proud for the Capmer staff for what we have accomplished.

On On!

# posted by matthew : 5/12/2005 09:53:00 AM  0 Comments

After visiting the genocide memorial in Kigali, the film seems tame. It is of course difficult in 100 minutes to do more than give a feel and tell a 'story'. The fact is The hotel manager, Paul, is not a national hero here and there is another film one could see to get a very good insight into the happenings of April 1994: "Ghosts of Rwanda". If you want a book, the highly recommended "We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families" is what I will read when I get back to the states and get my library to order it. A Senegalese peacekeeper who saved over 1000 lives with his personal acts of courage is an inspiring hero's story.

The most shocking thing about the whole story is how the world did nothing. This story is sadly a repeat of so many times - we never learn - and we let these things happen. And so many are barely known. The Russian invasion of Hungary in the late 1950's (read Michener's "The Bridge at Andau") is another example of how a nation just 'knew' the developed world would not sit idly by let them be slaughtered - and like Rwanda, learned that the idiosyncratic views 'we' have can let these PREVENTABLE or minimizable tragedies occur.

The UN official, Canadian General Romeo Dallaire sums it up with brutal clarity: "I'm sure there would have been more reaction if someone had tried to exterminate Rwanda's 300 mountain gorillas."

"Pity in Pink?" - One can see working in the fields in Kigali - and in all the other towns I visited - men (AND women) in pink shirts and shorts. Before I inquired, I assumed they were prisoners. there is a jail right in the center of Kigali, full of Men in Pink. These are people who killed during the genocide and the outfits are their uniforms of shame. The "gacaca" (pronounced Kachacha) is the series on ongoing tribunals to deal with all of the perpetrators of atrocities during the genocide and it will continue for many years. Pink may be the "in" color this fashion season in the West, but it is a sad reminder of the story behind "Hotel Rwanda" that has affected a generation.

OK, I promise to be back to fun and the lighter side next time!

# posted by matthew : 5/11/2005 09:10:00 AM  0 Comments

I have met many 'missionaries', some associated with particular churches (Rwanda religion profile: Roman Catholic 56.5%, Protestant 26%, Adventist 11.1%, Muslim 4.6%, and a couple % not attached to any).

One woman working in Ruhengeri, Martha, is an independent missionary. She has a masters degree in seminary but is unordained. She finds her own funding so has not overhead - all the funding she gets goes to her work. For the Episcopalian church she is writing a national curriculum for religious education - 6 of them - for grades 1 through 6 in English, just because there isn't one.

After it gets translated to Kinyarwanda language she will offer it to the church schools and hopes to have it adopted nationwide.

l miss the math tutoring I was doing every week in Ponte Vedra at the library. Volunteering and helping - even in a small way - is so rewarding - if you have a spare hour a week - see what you can do to help someone in your community - I guarantee you will (like the lawyer in "I am Sam") get more out of the relationships than those you help!

# posted by matthew : 5/09/2005 01:11:00 AM  0 Comments

The permit to visit the Volcanos National park is $25 and the fee for a gorilla trek just went from $225 to $350 in the past 2 months. Thus I paid $375 for my slip of paper allowing me to be one of a maximum 40 people to gorilla trek on Saturday 7 May 2005. It turned out there was a big group for this low season - 24 people. I had really wanted to go on 'Susa' trail which has a group of 39 gorillas including new twin babies.

However 'Susa' is a much harder trek, much further from the office and I could not get anyone else interested to go so I joined 'Group 13' with 3 women from Texas. Although I was disappointed in not getting 'Susa' trail, it turned out our trek so spectacular it is hard to imagine the 'Susa' trek turning out any better than the encounter we had with 'Group 13'. My photos are in for developing.

There are many rules for the trek: of course, no leaving rubbish in the national park and once around the gorillas: no pointing, no loud talking, no flash photography, NO Running Away WHEN the gorillas move toward you (it DOES Happen)! no smoking, no feeding or giving anything to the gorillas, no looking them in the eye if they approach, etc.

# posted by matthew : 5/08/2005 10:14:00 AM  0 Comments

I will write up some detailed blogs on it. Start with being ARMS LENGTH away from a 300 pound Silverback gorilla, continue with watching 2 males play wrestling and tumbling down a bank, rolling 3 feet from one's feet and round it off with watching the "main man" Silverback mate with a female which has just joined the group.

All this and more (details and photos to follow) happened on my trek to see "Group 13" in Volcanos National park on Saturday. On on!

# posted by matthew : 5/07/2005 10:25:00 AM  0 Comments

My trip to see the gorilla, made famous by Diane Fossey, is this weekend. We do expect to see them and hope not to see any guerrillas!

# posted by matthew : 5/05/2005 02:29:00 AM  0 Comments

The tomato paste factory was completely destroyed in the genocide events of April 1994 and resumed this past November. They compete with "Salsa" which produces little cans of tomato paste. Sowartom makes fresh tomato paste and packages it hot in tear open foil packs (think ketchup packs only bigger). They have managed to get almost 50% market share - amazing accomplishment. The manager was a gentle and very smart man with creative ideas and a goal of 100% market share for his tomato paste

I won't bore you with all the other details except to say that everyone I met was incredibly gracious, interesting and willing to help and ask for help. What a pleasure it is be and work in Rwanda!

# posted by matthew : 5/04/2005 11:01:00 AM  0 Comments

We did have rain overnight and this morning which scuttled my tennis lesson. I know, I know. But yesterday they announced that today was a holiday - celebrating May Day. So I got up in time for work at 7 and called my counterpart and he said he was heading in at 9. SO we worked til noon (and got a lot done)

Following is a street sign in downtown Kigali, I always liked those funny signs Leno has on, this is not very "tasteful" but a laugh is a laugh!

On On!

# posted by matthew : 5/02/2005 08:58:00 AM  0 Comments

Although the trail was not totally creative - it featured long stretches of running on roads without checks or turns, the rest of the Hash event was super.

The subject of the blog maybe should be "Dancing til 3", which is what we did after running the Hash from the Hare's home and enjoying a feast of 2 tablesful of food and a beer stop during the trail.

After a shower and a couple hours to rest, Most of the 30+ Hashers met up at "One Love" nightclub (owned by Ethiopians - who have an Ethiopian restaurant on the premises along with a guesthouse and campground) to join a luau party and dance.

From there we went to "Cadillac" sometime after midnight for another 3 hours of dancing.

Like so many Hasher clubs around the world, Kigali HHH is full of friendly, energetic and fun people. And I met many other interesting and fun people, both Rwandans and expats - from all over the world.

As promised, follows are some street scenes from Kigali - the morning it was "closed":

# posted by matthew : 5/01/2005 10:57:00 AM  0 Comments

Far from American racial and ethnic terms (like my being a Pollock growing up!) "Muzungo" is not a pejorative term.

Children will gleefully yell out "Muzungu!" and then smile and wave.

Today, Kigali was close - until noon. Tomorrow is a national holiday (May 1 - Labor Day) which is also celebrated in many other countries. They take off the morning the day before. I walked around Kigali and found open a couple gas stations and one "secretariet".

So it made for a good morning for unobtrusively taking lots of pictures around Kigali ... stay tuned.

# posted by matthew : 4/30/2005 05:55:00 AM  0 Comments

By popular request here are some images from the streets of downtown Kigali, the national capital of Rwanda.

# posted by matthew : 4/29/2005 01:51:00 AM  0 Comments

The rumor was that the temperature yesterday approached 100 - it was indeed hot at lunchtime. Today we got a major reprieve, clear air and a cloud filled sky made it a balmy day. Late in the morning the rain started - very heavily for 20 minutes, and drizzling since.

I went to the bank thinking I could change money there - wanting to avoid the longer walk to the FOR-EX bureau in the rain. Well, no, they don't change money in the bank, I found out, which is WHY they have FOREIGN-EXchange bureaus anyway.

OK, so when I passed through the metal detector at the bank entrance and handed over my computer, backpack, mobile phone, coins, etc. - just to walk right out 30 seconds later.. The bank has a lot of security and car are only allowed in one gated entrance. As I left the bank I headed for the OTHER gate, which was wide open and tried to walk out - especially since this entrance was only 200 yards from the hotel entrance. And it WAS raining.
But, NO, the guard told me I cannot walk out there. I actually had one foot outside and he put his arm across me to prevent me from taking that second step to freedom...

So I walked up and around to the 'official' entrance (exit) and walked around the block and got refreshingly wet in the drizzle. I headed to my hotel for a noon workout in the small fitness center.

Heading back to work at 2, I realized my phone was missing so I returned to the bank. It was closed. Actually, it was locked. The parking lot was full of cars and the official gate was chained shut. So I approached the 'bad' entrance and got them to let me in to try to get my phone back

With the chaining of the gate there seemed to be no need for the police to man the metal detector any more so no one was there to ask about my phone. At the bank information/sign-in desk (which WAS open - although it seems unlikely any customers could make it past the gauntlet) I had them call my missing mobile - which turned out to have been shoved into my backpack by the guard.

Happy Ending...

# posted by matthew : 4/28/2005 09:04:00 AM  0 Comments

Weather report: I guess I can live with these endless sunny days. It did rain yesterday, for 10 minutes or so it seems, while I was having a massage. And yes, I also had a tennis lesson and French lesson yesterday.

But it is not ALL play, the CAPMER>org web site is moving along towards it's launch on May 15 and I worked my 8 hours plus 10 p.m. to midnight - The time flies when one is having fun!

# posted by matthew : 4/27/2005 03:03:00 AM  0 Comments

As I said, Guinness is way cheaper than water. Unfortunately they don't have Guinness draft, only Guinness stout which is very potent stuff.

The local brew is Mutzig - pretty tasty and the beer of choice of the Kigali Hash House Harriers

Anyway, the film this past week was "Phantom of The Opera" (hence the blog title :) and next Friday it's "The Aviator" both of which I've seen.

It is very fun to meet expats here.Last night I joined some people from USAID who are working on AIDS in Rwanda - one of 15 countries targeted by big US $ assistance. They need it.

# posted by matthew : 4/24/2005 08:42:00 AM  0 Comments

Then - I took a cab to the area called Nyutarama, a very nice, green suburb of Kigali, where today's Hash House Harrier run was.

The Kigali Hash is a fantastic group. Like Hashes around the world it is a mix of expats from around the globe and locals. We had a very hilly trail, often having to jump a couple of feet over small streams. There was LOTS of hill climbing which I love, then a great Hash circle.

Of course, I got very loud and insinuated myself in the circle, leading my 'exercise version' of "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean" to the 30+ Hashers, many of whom had never heard the song before,

I will try a Rwandan nightclub tonight - the "Cadillac" and hopefully hear some great music...
On On!

# posted by matthew : 4/23/2005 12:41:00 PM  0 Comments

Edouard weighs about 60 % of what I do and had a plate pile twice as high. Twice is NOT an exaggeration.

The cassava was tasty as was the fried unripe banana and the potatoes .. with my eyes closed I am not sure I could have told them apart. The "pimento" on the table added some fire to the meat (pimento is pepper in French.

# posted by matthew : 4/22/2005 10:02:00 AM  0 Comments

The weekend looms: There is a "Hash" on Saturday, 2 tennis lessons, maybe a trip to the golf course and other adventures planned...
On on!

# posted by matthew : 4/22/2005 01:04:00 AM  0 Comments

Does it take courage to eat in a new restaurant? it's not quite Fear Factor...
I'm not sure but I got to be one of the first customers at the opening day of an Indian Restaurant in Kigali.

It opened about 4 blocks from the hotel so I will likely be a frequent eater. Last night I had Dahl Makani (cooked lentils) and Palak Paneer (spinach and cottage cheese) that were heavenly.

So unless my stomach explodes today it does not rank as much of an adventure just a very good find. For my fear factor, one time I did eat a few mopani worms in Zimbabwe ...

Weather report- another lovely warm and sunny one for Kigali. It did rain yesterday midday so I had a half hour swim, in the rain on the noon-2 p.m. work break they take here. Today at lunch is another tennis lesson from "Marteen" who speaks no English but urges me to keep my backhand level in French.

I met a woman in an internet cafe and who is a French teacher and hope to hire her today for a daily French lesson... Oh wait, it's been 2 days since I had a massage - have to fit that in too!

# posted by matthew : 4/20/2005 04:33:00 AM  0 Comments

I won't try to impart philosophical insights but some thoughts on what the heck I am doing in Kigali the capital of Rwanda.

I hate to admit but perhaps actress Sandra Bullock ("Speed", "Miss Congeniality") is my new spiritual adviser. Just before I accepted this gig, I heard that she said on a recent Letterman show "I only do what scares the hell out of me".
.. But I like that philosophy.
(And she recently gave the American Red Cross her 2nd $1 million dollar donation - this one for tsunami relief efforts)

After leaving Egypt last summer and getting over the culture shock of "Coming to America", I signed up on Geekcorps.org and IESC.org - volunteer executives - to OK to be asked to do short term volunteer consulting worldwide.

in late March they asked me to go to Kenya to help Kenya and Uganda get their border customs and VAT all figured out and communicating but I didn't really want to go for 4 months (in NaiRobbery/Nairobi)- I said yes - if I could get my buddy Eric to go with me- he said he couldn't leave his work contract now so I canned it.

I thought that changed decision would upset Geekcorps.org - then the guy called right back and said "My colleague down the hall needs someone in Rwanda for 45 days - can you go do that?"

I said yes. Then started researching Rwanda - found out it is safe and the genocide history is just mindblowing.

The task is to set up a website for an NGO which converted from a Government Organization a year ago that is assisting Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in recovering Rwanda.

see http://Capmer.org as it grows .. it is just a holding place now and it mostly empty but in about a month should be helping Rwanda in it's enthusiastic drive to a prosperous unified future.

# posted by matthew : 4/19/2005 08:48:00 AM  0 Comments

The place is green with lovely flowered trees. There is also the reddish ochre-ish brown of the unpaved roads and sidewalks. The paved roads are lines with drainage ditches - cement ones, 2.5 feet deep just off the road edge - watch your step!

I got that $5 tennis lesson in at lunch and have another $10 massage after work.

2 days ago I ate at a whole in the wall (like most of the places here) Ethiopian restaurant - good stuff. Next blog will hopefully have another dining adventure to report.

I will upload photos when i get organized - I woke again today at 1:30 and didn't get back to sleep - I just got up and listened to a CD from a Toastmasters world champion about making humorous speeches.

try this photo link - of the next to be close grave at the genocide memorial. They had 2 more bodies found this week so another couple funerals....Genocide Memorial grave photo

# posted by matthew : 4/18/2005 09:06:00 AM  0 Comments

Today I went grocery shoping... All Bran flakes: $14, baby shampoo: $18. Glad I brought along 4 boxes of All-Bran, my breakfast staple to add to the buffet breakfast in the hotel.