Next Stop: HOTlanta!

Hello Wonderful Blog Readers!

Sorry to keep you hangin'.  I've been busy!  My dad was here for 10 days, and we had a wonderful visit.  For the first five days, we were in Tanzania.  He loved shooting around town on the motorcycles with me, visiting the orphanage, and doing vision trainings/exams with our artisans.  For the last five days, we headed to Rwanda, where we went on safari and spent time in the big city, Kigali.  It was refreshing to have him visit to say the least, and I have a grip of amazing photos and stories!  I will share them soon.

Dad & I with one of our artisans from the Gichacha group, with her new scissors.  I told dad that our artisans were in dire need of scissors, so he brought scissors with him from the states (donated by his church) to give to our artisan groups.  People at the church were so generous that he had too many to fit in his suitcase, so a box is in the mail and on its way to WomenCraft as well.  Thank you donors!  Now these ladies can cut their kitenge for product fabrication with more precision and greater ease.

But for now, the big announcement: I'm leaving the Tanz!  Just a few days after dad's visit, I received my official job offer from WomenCraft to be their Sales, Marketing & Product Development Manager.  After some discussion and negotiation, for various reasons, I declined.  It is a disappointment as I am in LOVE with WomenCraft and whole heartedly support their mission, but I also have to think about my future and my career.  There is still the possibility of working remotely for WomenCraft in the future from the states, so we'll see where this story goes.  But for now, its time for me to get back and make some moolah.

Next stop on adventurama: Atlanta!  I'm heading there to teach dance, etc.  I leave Tanzania March 1st, so its coming up soon!  I'm spending my next 10 days here soaking up and giving back as much as I can.  I've learned a bit of Swahili, improved my French, and have learned a lot about the import market. And as much as I feel very ready to leave Murgwanza and to stop living like "Sound of Music" style, hanging out with the goats, I will truly miss the people.  Especially my co-workers at WomenCraft and my dance students at the orphanage.  What great memories and times I have with them that I will treasure forever (oh...and my dad took a video of my dance class while he was here!  I can't post it from here, because the internet is too slow, but I'm hoping to get it up when I get to Atlanta.  A little insight into these amazingly talented kids!)

That being said, I still have a lot of stories and insights from my time here in Tanzania and India to share with you.  So...the blog might become a mix of lots of different things.  We'll see what happens!  If there's anything you'd like to know about India or Tanzania or Rwanda that I haven't covered here yet, please let me know! Otherwise, you will most likely be seeing safari photos, balloon animal creations from dad's visit to Nazerete, a story about women in developing countries and how bad ass they are, and of course a little dance video.

Take care everyone & a bientot!