http://mberg.buildafrica.org Probably only interesting to me Mon, 13 Aug 2007 15:07:33 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Today Karl Rove, the man largely responsible to thank for GW's second term, announced his retirement (good riddance).  He said the first thing he'll do after leaving the White House is "go dove hunting in West Texas." Strikes me as a bit ironic. http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2007/08/13/dove-hunting/ Well it's been 9 months since my last post.  It's not that I haven't intended too share my life.  I guess I've just been busy living it.  I am in Mali still and there is a lot to share.  I am feeling drawn again to the blog so let's see ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2006/12/05/back-in-the-discourse-maybe/ I am day three into being a father of a 4 month old, half malian, half harrier pup called Gizmo after the Gremlin (look at the size of those ears!) Despite a couple of sleepness nights, she's been a good pup and I think has been treated well from ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2006/03/15/gizmo/ Hamatan Arrives in Bamako The Hamatan is a northern wind which blows dust down from the Sahara marking the beginning of the dry aka "hot" season. We have been very fortunate actually in that this has been the first Hamatan. Normally, in Bamako we would have already have had ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2006/03/08/i-live-in-the-desert/ In the past couple of days, Geekcorps has been featured in a number of national news publications including Business 2.0 and C-Net. While full of some factual errors, it's still pretty cool to have our work recognized. If you pick up the March Business 2.0 issue you may even ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2006/03/01/geekcorps-in-the-news/ Served this at my recent MaliGras party and went over really well. Figured, I'd share the family secrets. Ingrediants 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup rum or whiskey 1/2 cup soy sauce 1 table spoon lemon juice Piment (hot pepper) is a nice option for a sweet ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2006/02/28/moms-brochettekebab-marinade-recipe/ Me with a famous Geekcorps Bottle Wifi Antenna Top 5 Reasons to Spend Christmas in Bamako (Africa) 5. No pre-Thanksgiving Christmas themed Musak! 4. You will never have to scrape the ice of your car windows in the morning! 3. No more pesky Salvation Army donations! 2. It's the only holiday season you'll actually lose ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/12/21/merry-christmas-from-mali/ Where are the cars?!? Mopeds After spending three weeks in Bamako, I would like to postulate that a countries wealth is inversely proportional to its number of mopeds. I have both lived in and visited a number of developing countries (Zimbabwe, Senegal, Mexico, Ecuador) but I have never in my life, ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/11/17/bamako/ Apologies due First, I would like to apologize for the months of negligence to this blog. I am still suprised people have found it interesting enough to read/follow so I will do my best to keep it up to date again. I have actually found blogging as a great ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/11/12/yep-mali/ T-Birds are Crazy I've been in Senegal only 3 1/2 months and already two of my roomates (Toshi and Henry) have already visited. It just comes to show that if you ever invite a T-Bird to come visit, no matter where you are in the world, you better be sure ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/08/25/comings-and-goings/  Scene from the Cape in Dakar Desert Garden For the first time in 9 months, Dakar has gotten its first real showers. Even after spending signficant time in Arizona its hard to imagine how an ecosystem survives without water. The transformation water brings to the desert is really amazing. ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/08/03/rain-has-come/ The Sex Lives of Cannibals While I have been eagerly awaiting reading the Kite Runners my parent's also brought over a book called the Sex Lives of Cannibals documenting the author's experience living in Kiribati "possibly the worst place on earth" a tiny nation sitting periously atop a coral atoll in ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/07/29/the-sex-life-of-cannibals/ Meeting the President Meeting with Senegal's President Abdoulaye WadeClick on any photo for closeup Last week I had the chance to attend the AGOA conference held in Dakar this year. During the conference, President Wade toured some of the exhibits including where I was working. I even got to ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/07/25/my-parents-are-visiting/ Goat park - Photo by Raffaele Moles No I'm not dead I apologize for not posting in nearly two weeks. A lot has been going on and I have been extremely focused on getting the initial version of Leuk going. The Leuk project is going extremely well and I hope ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/07/15/48/ I finally got around to creating ThunderBlog.org where I'm trying to capture the essence of the T-bird "Mystique" by making it for T-Birds around the world to share their blog. Thunderblog.org will serve both as a blog directory and an aggregated collective blog of post summaries which will ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/07/02/introducing-thunderblogorg/ Think your tough? My friend just sent me the story of a 73 year old Kenyan man who killed a leapord who attacked him by sticking down his hand down the leopards mouth and ripping out his tongue! You really have to read it to believe it. Mangoes I think I ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/06/29/random-thoughts/ Schucking muscles Fulfilling a long standing desire Ever since my parents promised that I could get a speargun when I was 12 (then wisely renegged), I've wanted one. Well 15 years later, back in Dakar with my parents 2000+ miles away I finally got one! So in my free time, ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/06/27/les-almadies/ Recently, I had the opportunity to go through a brief cultural orientation held by the talented folks at ACI Baobob Center in Dakar. During the meeting, besides learning a couple of basic words in Wolof and eating a traditional meal around the "bowl" we are introduced to an incredible ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/06/25/cultural-icebergs/ Featured in eThunder I recently found out that my blog has been featured in eThunder an e-newsletters that Thunderbird sends out to prospective students. I guess they feel that I fit a certain T-Bird mold which is something I consider an honor. In any case, if any prospective students ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/06/20/i-guess-someone-is-reading-this/ At sporting events in Africa, the game is only have the package. Senegal distraught with tie I had the opportunity this weekend, to see Senegal (the quarter finalist in the last world cup) play in a 2006 World Cup qualifier against Togo. The game was a great experience despite Senegal blowing ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/06/19/38/ My first tip comes from my brother Ryan a systems analyst at Epic Systems in Madison, Wisconsin. He sent me a link of the best 46 free applications organized by category. I agree largely with most of their selections. It is definetly worth a look. http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/06/18/tech-tip-of-the-week-61805/ Surrender or Starve I just got through Robert Kaplan's book called Surrender or Starve which focused on the horn of Africa where millions have died over the years due to human wrought famine. Well extremely well written, there is only so much human misery you can deal with ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/06/15/the-politics-of-famine/ View of the Phare (lighthouse) near Les Almadies. Getting into my work I realize that it has been a while since my last posting. Things in Dakar have been busy but good. I have finally started to make some headway on my work here, nailing down the project I will ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/06/12/a-week-in-review/ The ONE campaign organized by Bono has done a tremendous amount to help address the issue of eradicating global poverty. Right now they need your urgent help. The ONE campaign has set a goal to get ONE million letter signatures for a letter to President George Bush by ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/06/07/the-one-campaign/ Baobob Forest Destination Linguere This weekend, Wyva, an old friend of our's, offered to take me back to Linguere a small town in central Senegal where a couple from my old mission lives. Linguere is also near the village of Thiel where I spent one month as a child. ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/06/05/into-the-bush/ When you emerge yourself into a different culture, even when you think you begin to understand things, sometimes things happen that make you realize you really don't. Take cold water for example. Today, to my complete disbelief, I discovered that the guard at my work place and our neighboring guards ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/05/31/cultural-stereotypes/ It looks like the Zim government has finally lost it. The government just burned down 6 miles (6 miles!) of curio stands. Of course, I'm sure these people were a public nuisance and deserved it especially since there are so many jobs in the formal sector with ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/05/30/madness-in-zimbabwe/ The Senegalese in general are a strikingly beautiful people. Here are some pictures my roomate Raffaele Moles took of Senegalese women at the Senegal vs. Zambia Rugby game. To see a closeup or the full set ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/05/29/women-of-senegal/ I'm sure you'll all be glad to know that there is a Bed Bath & Beyond in Dakar (see below). So if you ever decide to get married in Senegal you now have one more option for your wedding registry. Bed Bath & Beyond - The Dakar Store Geek ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/05/27/comforts-of-home/ Today was a very surreal day. I got to hang out with my old Karate teacher, Maitre Thiam, former African Karate champion, martial art instructors for the police, and teacher for rich embassy kids. Anyways, it was incredible to see him doing well. I actually ... http://mberg.buildafrica.org/2005/05/26/back-to-school/