Today, I am thankful for sports and the way that they create community. Especially volleyball. For the last four years, everywhere I have gone, I’ve found friends through volleyball. Tanzania is no different. This afternoon, a group of volleyball players got together for volleyball and a meal — and just to enjoy each other’s company….

International Day! Wow. It was amazing. I took over 1,100 photos between 7:30 and 12:30 this morning. The colors were brilliant, the costumes striking, the traditional dances enchanting. I’ve also heard that the food was delicious, but unfortunately, I didn’t get to try any. I was too busy taking photos… and tracking down an extra…

After this week full of taking pictures for HOPAC’s Pamoja week, I suppose I ought to be grateful for my camera. And I am. But I’m more excited about my nice lens that made all these photos possible. And for the AWESOME students that dressed up and smiled and laughed together this week. Tomorrow is…

Today I’m thankful for the internet. I woke up this morning to a long e-mail from my mom. I got Snapchat and Facebook messages from friends this afternoon. I saw senior photos and pictures of a friend’s new baby on Facebook. I’m uploading photos from Pamoja Week now. Honestly, I can’t imagine moving halfway around…

Today was Decade Day for Pamoja Week at HOPAC. Again, there were some extremely creative and hilarious outfits! As I was thinking about this post earlier in the day, I was thinking of a number of things I’m thankful for: the weather, swimming, Truth Tuesdays, and others, but after a run-in with a bajaji that…

Today was a whirlwind of excitement. It was the first day of Pamoja Week (“togetherness” / spirit week) at HOPAC, and so almost everyone joined in on the fun by dressing in their craziest, most unfashionable clothing. Today alone, I took over 800 photos — over 400 of which I considered “worth keeping” after sorting…

I am thankful for music. Music at church, music at night from the bar behind my house, music blaring from the public busses on the streets. The fun thing about music here is that it comes in all flavors. Just yesterday, I heard a song by Sugarland. Justin Beiber and Celine Dion are popular here….

Because its the second of November, I have two photos from this morning:     For the last four years, volleyball has been a significant part of my life. When I said goodbye to my coaches, LJ Gebert, Will Robbins, and Dusty Sherman, earlier this summer, I wept with the insecurity of not knowing whether…

  As I was plotting the course of these “Notable November Notes,” I considered a number of ideas for the notes to accompany the photos, but what I settled on was a short comment on something I had to be grateful for that day. So for today… I am so thankful for comfort food: fresh…