Ain’t Life Interesting

Saturday, January 19, 2008
Well, it has been an interesting couple of days… On Thursday afternoon I went into town to use the internet and do a few other things. While I was there my computer, which I brought with me so I could plug into the internet café’s insanely fast connection, crashed three times in a row, which is rather rare. When I got back to the campsite I tried a few things to diagnose the problem. Eventually I figured out the pattern… my computer was crashing within three to five minutes of being booted up. I also noticed that the fan was not spinning up and that was a symptom not a cause of the problems because there was no dust blocking the fan and it was able to spin freely when encouraged to do so by a bunch of hot air coming from me. I continued to get very bad error messages and other signals that the problem was a hardware one and one that could not be fixed without spending more than the cost of a new computer (and that is if I were in the US). So I am now a computer fundi (technician/craftsmen/expert) without a computer. Quite an interesting predicament. I am working on remedying this situation.

In other news… I am really enjoying my time at language school. I have learned a great deal and am looking forward to putting it into use once I return to Msalato. It has been a long two weeks – spending an intense five hours a day working on a new language is draining. Who is at the language school? Well, the campsite is run by a pair of British ex-pats who have a staff of about 50 Tanzanians. The language school itself is run by Tanzanians and has a staff of about ten. As for students there is me and the three New Zealanders, an American couple in their early 20s from Kentucky, an American in his early 20s from Michigan, a British couple including an Anglican vicar in their 40s, a Dutch family (grandparents, mother, and three beautiful children), and a wonderful Finish Lutheran pastor in her early 50s.

It is great to be here, but I look forward to returning to Msalato and Dodoma. Thanks for your interest and continued support.

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