If you've followed this blog from the beginning, you might remember a post in late 2008 when I asked for your help. I was visiting a family in Cameroon that had hosted me six years before as a college student. It was a polygamous family, with four wives and about 20 children. And this family […]
I’m finally getting around to uploading videos from my backpacking trip onto YouTube; I didn’t have a fast-enough Internet connection to do this while I was in Africa. My favorite: getting caught in a sandstorm in Timbuktu. Turn on your sound! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SXg5gJFW70] You can browse the rest of my videos, too: hear a mosque’s call […]
It’s been a while since I posted an excerpt from my book. And I’ve written so much during the last few months! So today I want to share something short that will make you smile. This piece is from the middle section of my book, which takes place in Cameroon. (It’s adapted from my travel […]
Last Monday, I kicked your butt into gear. This week, a gentler form of inspiration, an excerpt from my book. Wanna learn about my travel memoir first? Check out this post. * * * Packages from home take on new meaning in Africa. Peanut butter? Like gold. A favorite deodorant? More valuable than cash. And […]
When I ran the Freihofer’s Race for Women six years ago, I had just returned from my first trip to Africa. I had lived with a polygamous family in Cameroon and developed friendships with the four co-wives. The women had inspired me, showing both physical and spiritual strength when they had so little of everything […]
At my grandmother’s assisted-living center, residents line up their walkers in the hall when they go into the dining hall for a meal. When I went to visit this week, more than a dozen black roller-walkers were up against the wall, each personalized with nick-knacks hanging from the bars. I planned to take a day […]