Camel Tracks

I found the people of Kenya to be delightful. During our three years there, our twins were born, so Kenya will always have a special place in my heart. I spent most of my time getting to know the Kikuyu, Luo and Luya people. They are hardworking, careful, productive, knowledgeable, and highly competent just to name of few of their wonderful qualities. I was struck by their singular reserve and self-respect. They are careful in making judgements about people and in decision-making. They are cauti...

I didn't realize until I'd been exploring Istanbul just how massive the city is. Despite its great size, it is spectacularly easy to get around on public transport. From the airport to virtually any spot, I could hop on the metro, take a bus, or walk a short distance. This is impressive city planning. Many of my friends and students have found scholarships and work in the city. The Turkish government has increased its international trade and impact across the Sahel in recent years, with notabl...

Addis and Mekele Ethiopia We've flown into and out of Africa's largest airport hub in Addis Ababa many times. But we got to experience real Ethiopia when our son, a Peace Corps volunteer, invited us to come for a week in Mekele. We discovered the gorsh custom -- visitors are fed by hand at dinner. I was happy for others to enjoy that one! We checked out three wheeled taxis, which were cheap and fun. We arrived during a massive holy day feast that celebrated women in that local people group....

Monrovia Liberia Liberia West Africa is a quiet wet wonder land of friendly people. I don't know that I've experienced rain as I have in Monrovia Liberia. It is humid, muggy, thick with luscious green; plants burst with life everywhere. Fruit is cheap, delicious, and abundant. During our two-year stint here, I discovered their beaches. The surf is surprisingly rough, wild, but wonderfully cool, with few tourists, and lots of clear water spear fishing. I learned how to boogie board and discovere...

I spent some years in Abidjan, the capital city, and in Bouaké in, the second largest city to the north. Ivory Coast -- they prefer Côte d'Ivoire -- is remarkable for its: Attieke. It's a cassava root which when pounded up into a kind of flour, is absolutely fantastic as a base for sauces, with fish, with tomato onion salads. Aloco. It's fried spicy plantain, and amazingly good with a bit of hot sauce. Other nearby countries make their versions of this, too. Farming. They are professional gra...

I keep returning to these high quality online spaces. Fediverse.Info It'sFoss Arstechnica NPR text only RevZilla BBC News Electronic Frontier Foundation African Proverbs from 2013 BBC ...

I jumped into the world of Linux around 2005. I get my laptops from System76. I'm happy with Pop!_OS for my operating system software. Before that, I used Ububuntu from South Africa founder Mark Shuttleworth. I switched over to the Cosmic platform that System76 developed in house and released in December after 2 years+ of development. So far, I love it. It's much faster. My Go To Applications NextCloud. Notes and Tasks. Markdown or Text Internxt cloud/desktop backup. EE2E Standard Notes. EE2...

Tasty dishes and sips from all over the planet that our family enjoys: Lebanese meza, chawarma, babaganoush Indian samosa, chapaati, naan, daal Kenyan chai (tea, milk, sugar) French onion soup, cheese fondu Senegalese chep-u -jin (fish and rice) Ivoirian attieke (cassava), allocos (plantain) Malian tigadegena (peanut sauce and rice) Kenyan sukuma wiki/ugali (greens with corn meal mush) Chadian grilled camel meat with onions and bread Liberian grilled barracuda steaks, palm oil greens and rice...

These books have changed, moved, or inspired me deeply. I will keep updating. Lord of the Rings. JRR Tolkien. Best of the best. I read the hard covers every few years. Normal hobbits do great things. Chronicles of Narnia. CS Lewis. Read to our kids Wheel of Time. Robert Jordan. Complex. Epic. Early and last books are the better reads. Foundation Series. Isaac Asimov. Superb plot. Great ideas How Should We Then Live. Francis A. Schaeffer. Tracing art to intellectual thought. I fell in love wit...

Two Wheel Journey How can two wheels make you feel so good? The wind in your hair, the quiet rush, the freedom of movement through tight spaces in traffic, using gears, brakes, and balance as one with your bike, alone with your thoughts, while exploring your route is such a positive physical experience in every way. Here's my 55 year process. The last one is a dream come true. Tricycle. Age 4-5 Bicycle Single Speed Age 5-10 Ten Speed Bicycle Age 15-60 Moped Mobilette (French) Age 16-18 Hond...

Dakar I've spent roughly 7 years in Senegal, mostly in the capital, Dakar. It's kind of fun to listen to a mix of two languages all the time -- French and Wolof (this is also the largest ethnic group). Dakar is a bustling congested city full of city buses and hawkers selling their wares in the middle of traffic. The Wolof are famously hard-working trading people. There are Wolof traders all across the West Africa coastline. They are also justly known as fierce warriors. Boys are taught to neve...

Northern Morocco: Casablanca Morocco has two parts: North and South. The northern part is what most people think of -- cool climate, wonderful tajiin sauces, fruits of all kinds, hiking and climbing the Atlas Mountains, wonderful beaches, the huge and ancient mosques in the capital city, the extremely old traditional cities with their bazaars and fresh-squeezed juices in the town center of Marrakesh. The capital city is the original claim to the White House -- Casablanca -- and much older than ...

Lisboa: Sintra and Cascais Full disclosure, I'm massively biased as my wife grew up in Portugal, speaks Portuguese, and her sister lives there. Portugal is known for its olives/olive oil, cork wood, cod fish, leather, porcelain ceramics, cotton linens, pastel de nata pastries, almonds, and grilled octopus. Their fresh fruit is amazing.  Oranges, tangerines, lemons, kiwi, pears and apples should be in season in January. There are two suburbs which capture, for me, a different and marvel-inspirin...