REMEMBER: Super Glooper Day is May 15th!

and this week’s item is Scare Bear Spike!

wow!

moshi monsters didn’t win!

the voting has now closed but you can still play ‘Grab a goodie’ at

http://www.baftakidsvote.org/

on the web category one of the goodies is a moshi monsters background, this is it:

if you set it as your background and choose ‘Tile’ it looks well cool!

CaptainBlogBeard has been drowned in schoolwork for awhile, but I haven’t walked the plank yet. So it’s time for another piece of buried treasure from your favorite deep sea blogger.

I recently ate sushi for the first time when some friends and I set anchor at a little place called Moshi (2152 East Main Street, Bexley, OH). It was amazing. For anyone who’s scared of eating slimy and possibly raw fish, now is the time to fight through those fears and try some of Moshi’s delicious treats. The sushi panini were these bite-sized fish sandwiches and were quite good. My favorite, however, was the sushi roll topped with scallops in a delectable sauce (I forget what they were called). Their deliciousness blew my mind.

Moshi is awesome, bottom line.

05.December:
As the first thing in the morning I rented a sleeping bag for 15 USD and a balaclava for 5 USD at the hotel. Then I dropped of some more stuff that I wouldn’t need for the climb in the storage room and put my valuables in a safety box. The safety box was tiny, somewhat like half the size of a post box and they charged me 1 USD pr. night for using it. Afterwards I met up with Christian, a nice 33 year old guy from Germany who was also doing the Machame route. We merged our two groups, having two guides but less porters and only one set of tents and cooking equipment.

We left the hotel in a minibus and drove for one hour before reaching the Machame gate. After registering by signing the national park trekking book at the gate office, we started walking through the lush montane forest at about 10.45am. Half way up, we had a tasty lunch from a little carton involving a boiled egg, a chicken thigh, an orange, some peanuts and an enchilada looking thing.

white-necked Raven on a warning sign before starting the Machame route

We climbed the lower slopes of the mountain today and covered a lot of distance though the gradient was gradual all the way. Altogether we walked 18km and reached the Machame camp at 2980 m above sea level some four and a half hour later at 3.15 pm. The camp was just beyond the rain forest and within the fascinating heath-land – an area with light colored lush web hanging down from the trees.

reached the Machame hut just before setting up camp

a glimpse of a heath forest

After walking around the camp, I was amazed to find that the porters had even brought a little toilet for us to use! Even though there were other permanent toilets next to the camp site.. However, these toilets were merely a tiny tree shed with a hole in the ground. Only a few hours after arriving the camp, at about 6pm, a rainbow appeared just behind our camp site and we witnessed a stunning sunset. I wandered a bit around the freezing cold camp site and got to know a group of nine Russians travelling together. They invited me to gin and a good time, which (off course) was an offer I couldn’t refuse and we sat in their little overcrowded tent drinking and chatting away. It turned out that half the group were experienced mountaineers and had climbed Elbrus (the highest mountain in Europe at 5642m above sea level) at winter in minus 55 degrees – impressive!

rainbow behind the camp

sunset at Machame Camp

sunset at Machame Camp

A bit later, me and Christian had a delicious dinner involving cucumber soup and beef with vegetable sauce. Sitting down in the late evening was freezing cold! Much colder than what I had expected for the first day. I actually had to wear almost everything I brought along for the trek to keep warm. Then we got a briefing for the next day and a great long chat with the guides before going off to bed. At 2am I woke up and left the tent to take a piss. The sky was crystal clear and full of stars while the moonlight illuminated parts of our camp site. The stillness was overwhelming. It was a stunning sight and all kinds of star constellations were visible on the cold night sky.

04.December:
When I woke up I felt a bit better than during the night. I didn’t eat much for breakfast as I was still nauseas, but I bought heaps of bottled water and slipped some croissants into my backpack. At 7.45am I was picked up by two guys in a shady old car and dropped off outside some hotel about 1 km from my hotel. Then I got into a shuttle bus that was gonna take me across the border to Tanzania. The bus was not exactly in mint condition to say the least and it was already full when I stepped in. I crammed in between a guy and a girl in the last row in the bus, closed my eyes and hoped that I would not need a a toilet for the next 8-9 hours. More people entered the bus, making it packed to the rim! The last guys were now sitting in small fold out seats in the aisle. Everyone on the bus were Africans except for me.

in the shuttle bus

The bus started to move and I got nauseas while my stomach upset once again. Fingers crossed. Eyes closed. I made it to the first stop some 3 hours later. I was relieved and feeling better. Everyone got out of the bus and I realized that there was a German guy in the the front of the bus next to the driver. This guy was travelling around Africa while working for SOS and was now heading for Tanzania. He’d been in Africa for nine months now and planned to stay for 1.5 years altogether.

Crossing the border to Tanzania was unproblematic, but I would definitely recommend bringing along a lot of dollars in small bills as just entering Tanzania will cost you 50 USD (if you’re not a citizen in an East African country) or 100 USD if you’re from the US. From the border we drove off to Arusha. Once in Arusha, my new German friend left the bus and we continued to some kind of shuttle bus and taxi station. We had now been driving for about eight hours on some of the bumpiest and dirt roads I’ve ever been on (with the exception of Bolivia). Most of the time we would be going in the wrong lane (that if you could say that there were lanes..) to avoid getting into the numerous holes in the ground.

After talking to the bus driver at the station, he told me to switch to another shuttle bus for the last leg towards Springland Hotel in Moshi. This bus was a lot more comfortable as we were only six people in it. During the one hour drive to the hotel, I got to know two friendly guys from England and one happy chap from Aussie who were all also attempting Kili. I finally arrived Springland Hotel being the last person to leave the bus and feeling dead tired. The first thing I learned was that my guide had not arrived yet and I I was the only person in my Kili trekking group.. It would be just me, the mountain and the locals, I guess. I tried to have some dinner, but I couldn’t eat much as I was feeling nauseas once again and my stomach was still not on my side. Then I checked in, repacked my stuff and stashed away things I wouldn’t need on the trek in a storage room. This service was fortunately free. The room I got was great. It was spacious, had a  toilet and a shower, a fan, three beds and I was the only one sleeping there.  I hit the sack and had an amazing sleep

my room at the Springland Hotel in Moshi

The  Nairobi – Arusha Moshi Shuttle Bus is the best regular Shuttle operating in East Africa between Kenya and Tanzania via the Namanga border point. This are Well maintained and safe Shuttle buses with inclined seats with air-con, Highly recommended for tourist and are cheaper to transfer to Tanzania than taking a direct flight to Kilimanjaro International Airport. Try The Shuttle Bus Services Journey which is Easy, comfortable at the lowest fares in East Africa l Travel

The Nairobi Arusha and Moshi  Shuttle Bus  schedules are as follows

Departure Time Arrival

Nariobi 08.00hrs -Arusha 13.00hrs      25        Daily
Nairobi 08.00hrs  - Moshi 17.30hrs      35        Daily
Nairobi 14.00hrs  -Arusha 18.30hrs      25        Daily
Arusha 08.00hrs  - Nairobi 13.30hrs    25 usd  Daily
Arusha 14.00hrs -  Nairobi 18.30hrs    25        Daily
Arusha 13.30hrs  – Moshi 15.30hrs      15        Daily
Moshi 11.00hrs   -  Arusha 13.30hrs    15        Daily
Moshi 11.00hrs –   Nairobi 18.30hrs     35        Daily

Private Transfers from Kilimanjaro Airport to Moshi or Arusha on request depending on the destination and duration

Shuttle Bus Transfers Nairobi to Namanga Border and Namanga Arusha is 25 USD one way per person

You should be about 15 minutes before the Shuttle Bus departure time. Please provide us with your flight details as to be paged on arrival at J.K.I.A. Jomo Kenyatta Airport

NB: Shuttle Bus Pick up and drop off points in Nairobi are within town hotels and at the airport (At Jomo Kenyatta Airport (J.K.I.A.) we advise you to stay at the cafteria incase you arrive early )

Shuttle bus Pick up and Drop off points in Arusha and Moshi are within Arusha town hotels.

Shuttle bus Pick up and drop off points in Moshi are within Moshi town hotels like Keys Hotel, Zebra Hotel, Buffalo hotel, Mountain view, YMCA, Springlands etc.

Kilimanjaro Aiport (K.I.A.) to Marangu hotels transfer price is 50 USD per person

We also arrange private vehicle hire to any destination in Kenya, Uganda Tanzania- contact us for more details.
huttles Buses Transfer between Nairobi Kenya to Arusha, Moshi Tanzania

THE TRIP

Shuttles leave from both Arusha and Nairobi at 08.00 hours and 14.00 hours each day. Though the trip on the Tanzania side of the border is shorter at 110 kilometres, the poorer state of the road makes travel time about the same as the 150 kilometre drive on the Kenya side. Generally it is about two hours on each side of the border.

The time spent at Namanga can depend on the number of people on the bus and how strict customs and immigration officials are. Also, if a few fellow passenger are without visas things might go slower.

You will also stop on the Kenya side, not too far from the border. This rest stop gives you a chance to answer the call of nature, buy a cool drink and look at some last minute (or first minute) gifts.

THE BUS

There are several companies, among them Riverside, Bobby Shuttle and Impala. The bus may be anything from a mini-van to a large coach. Most often, they are twenty-five seat buses with a fold down seat in the aisle to make four across seating.

WHAT YOU PASS

The route between Arusha and Nairobi has some interesting villages along the way. There is a possibility of seeing some wild animals even perhaps giraffe as you travel. But… take a book as there are some places that may be a bit lacking excitement.

THE BORDER

You cross between Kenya and Tanzania at the Namanga Border Point. This will certainly not be the most fun experience you have on your trip. Some of the border officials can be a bit self-important. Just smile and keep calm.

On the Tanzania side, the customs and immigration building is combined. Immigration is the door to the Right and you are required to enter in person. You may have received an entry card or completed a roster on the bus; otherwise a card will be made available at the counter. If cards and roster are not available, you will be asked to sign a book. If you are entering Tanzania, you will have to complete the information concerning where you will stay. In this case, write ‘On Safari’ in the P. O. Box line and the name of your first hotel stop in the physical address line.

If you do not have a visa, you will have to apply at the border. Remember that you need cash for this and the price varies depending on the nation your passport is issued from. It is best to carry U. S. Dollars in tens and twenties cash as travellers’ cheques are not accepted for visas and change may not be available.

If time permits, you should obtain visas in advance of travel. You may be required to present passport size photographs if applying for a visa, so make sure you keep some with you.

Customs may ask that you take all of your things from the bus and bring them inside for searching. In many cases, they will only walk through the bus to see what is there.

Customs might inspect both arriving and departing visitors’ luggage. As annoying as this might be, they have the right as at any international border and cooperation and kindness usually speed things along.

On the Kenya Side, customs is far less inquisitive of tourists and often will only make a cursory inspection of the bus. They do have the authority to search bags, however; and you should assist and be honest at all times.

Kenya Immigrations is at the far end of the border, the last building you reach if entering Kenya, the first if leaving. It can be crowded and the queue system a bit confusing. You will have to complete arrival or departure cards. Your address whilst in Kenya should be the name of your hotel. If departing the same day by air, write ‘TRANSIT’.

If you have not purchased a visa in advance, you will also have to do this at the border. The fee varies. Note: If you are flying out of Kenya or Tanzania (depending on which country you are entering now) in the next two days, you should qualify for a transit visa that is cheaper.

For more see  http://www.boboafricatours.com/nairobi_mombasa_train/train.htm

After last week’s eye poppin’ competition, the people have chosen, and this week’s MonSTAR is chrissycool! Now we’re back with five more contenders! The most nominated Room of the Week for the CELEBRITY theme was pinkypurplemoshi.

This week you’ll be voting for the following MonSTAR hopefuls. These are the top 5 gift GETTERS:

samfunky received 150 gifts

joanneg received 110 gifts

timernator received 101 gifts

tazzycherry received 92 gifts

sweet-pea received 88 gifts

Make your voice heard! Click here to vote for next week’s MonSTAR!

Next week we’ll be looking at the following to decide the MonSTAR contenders:

* Top scorers on The Daily Challenge over at The Hall of Puzzles

Room of the Week:

It’s time again for NOMINATIONS! This week the room theme idea was submitted by zozoezos and is FOODIE, so get your Foodie Moshlings in your room, your Candy Windows up, and your Marshmallow Pillows out! Be sure to keep your room with the FOODIE theme until next Monday when we announce the next theme. Click here to nominate either yourself or your friends for Room of the Week. The monster owner with the most nominations wins!

Nairobi to Moshi by mini-bus

Semi-nomadic cattle herders encourage their meatless livelihoods across the parched Kenyan soil, oblivious to the the Mario Kart style wacky racing tournament that dominates the new tarmac road beside them. Our 18 seater racing wagon rockets down the strip, swerving frequently to the other side of the road to dodge pot holes and then sharply back to the left again to avoid the mother of all lorries. Less then an hours drive from Nairobi we come to an abrupt halt. A team of sweat gleaming labourers block the road ahead. Unperturbed, our speed demon driver edges the mini-bus over the lip of a steep embankment and then nose-dives us into a ditch. We bounce and judder in an unsavoury fashion to the dirt track below.

The rude vibrations and abrupt seat expulsions continue for the remaining seven hours of transit. I’m beginning to feel like a tinned peach, marinating in my own sweat and mosquito repellent. But within the hour I’ve retreated into some kind of monster hybrid; Buddhist detachment meets sleep deprivation induced coma! Through wobbly dust stained window I spy lone Masai cattle herders sheltering under gnarly acacia trees. Their lean bodies are wrapped in red sheets and their ear lobes are stretched into humongous flesh tunnels. Thorns are used for the initial piercings which are stretched with bundles of sticks, stones and empty film canisters. Occasionally I catch sight of a lone Masai hut, tiny camouflaged structures made from sticks pasted in cow dung. But the Sunshine is beginning to lose her grip on the blue, blue sky. Wearily, she rests her head on the horizon and reaches out to the dusty foliage with her long spindly fingers. Unable to grip, she slips silently away and we are plunged into sleepy blackness.

Moshi

Coiled around the dirt alleys of Baba Market like some fantastical albino snake, our entourage of fifteen white Kilimanjaro hopefuls instigates curiosity, weariness and relentless entrepreneurship among the locals. Exotic and lucrative, we are pursued through the winding dirt paths of the market, shamelessly charmed and then impaled with the darts of hard line sales pitches. Kilimanjaro sun hats, beaded bracelets and animal oil paintings galore! We seek refuge under the wicker roofed fruit and veg stands. Plum faced women in vibrant patterned clothes smile at us behind piles of sunshine yellow and Amazon green fruit. ‘Mambo!’ My Swahili is still foetal, but ‘pure’ I call back. They laugh wholeheartedly ‘poa’ they correct me, ‘poa!’ This is just the street language of course but our exchange translates to ‘what’s up’ and ‘it’s cool.’ Our guides are anxious to teach us the language and the majority of people we meet and converse with are pleased we’ve made the effort, encouraging us and teaching us new words. An older women perched on a wooden crate eyes us wearily but the children watch our procession in wide-eyed wonder, slapping us lightly as we walk past and shouting ‘jambo’, ‘hello!’ and then running away in high pitched squeals of laughter. We meander past whole pigs and birds strung from the roof, their sporadic blood droplets quenching the dusty floor below. Eventually we re-emerge from the roofed sections and find ourselves in a dusty square, carpeted with rugs and throws, the contents of whole shops laid bare in the open air.

Day 1: The Rainforest

I perch nervously on my bus seat in a haze of wondrous anticipation and gruesome fear. Clouds of dusty beige evaporate into rich, orange fields through my window pane as my fear begins to dissolve, leaving my mind fertile with adventure. Crowds of tiny coco faces form outside passing schools, eyes wide and eager, little hands waving franticly, their voices hollowing at the awesomeness of their spectacle. And onwards our bus rolls, up through muddy tracks and winding into fertile banana plantations minded by weather worn workers; who kick back behind grubby plastic tables in shabby cafe structures in the warm, rainy gloom. Merchants clamour forcefully around Machame gates, knocking purposefully on the bus windows with their goods. Many of them work as porters too when they can get the work, which involves bribing the lead guide for a position in the crew, paying entry to the park and then relentless hours of tiresome work and all for a pitiful amount.

We have to hang around the gates for an hour whilst our documents and park entry fees are put in order and I’m anxious to get going. It’s that fear of the great unknown, the imagined event or challenge is often so much worse then the actuality. I can’t picture myself at the summit but my mind is geared towards negativity. Expect the worst and then every outcome will exceed your expectations, that was my motto then. I envision mind-ripping headaches of epic proportions, volcanic eruptions of vomit, tears, pain, strife, an experience more preferable in memory then in actuality.

As we wait for our park visas to be processed, we sit apprehensively on the stone steps outside the park reception. The frantic shouts of the merchants outside the arched wooden gates has subsided into a lazy babble as they wait for the next bus of white cash cows to arrive. The morning air is fresh and cool following the recent rainfall. I hear a deep vocal rumble and then the scuffling of feet, the frantic thumping of frightened hearts and the soft whistle of a moving air as I follow my group up the earthy path, past the throng of pack laden porters and onto the mountainside.

Despite our courtesy head start, the porters have overtaken us within three minutes. Straining against heavy packs and often balancing huge baskets of food and equipment on their heads, their lean black bodies charge past us. Oh the shame! I feel so puny, pale and worthless. Like a delicate china doll, pampered and privileged whilst these inky oxen struggle and triumph on my behalf. With this soulful realisation, I know I can not fail.

The rainforest itself reminds me of a charming English wood, distorted through the eyes of an acid freak. Silver barked trees twist and tangle in knots of moss and bronze in the sky above, encasing us in their enchantment. Ropes of thick green moss hang mysteriously above our heads like great shaggy serpents and a menagerie of ochre, tan and copper leaves imprint little fairy footsteps upon the ground. With so much lush green foliage encasing the path, detail loses its identity among the frenzy of colours and shapes, re-discovering itself in a 3D Monet masterpiece.

To be continued……

As the Moshi Monsters staff promised, here’s another band bio hot off the press:

Yo man, say wassup to 49 Pence (real name: Colin Clump), the bad boy rapper who’s just a penny short of a full fifty. An ex-member of the Monstro City Massive, this fast-talking king of bling looks pretty fly when he’s cruising around town in his Rox-encrusted limo, but the truth is his mommy still irons his pants and he cuddles his teddy at night! (Keep it quiet or he’ll bust up your crib and diss your momma in his next rap).

Despite a long-running feud with rival rapper Poop Soggy Bogg, 49 Pence is a popular lil’ monster and often treats fans to surprise performances at his club, the Drainbow Bar. Gimme five!

Like: Rox covered jewelry and his own 49 Pence branded sneakers

Dislike: Boring times and crummy rhyme

Monstah boy tell ‘em! Comment on Moshimonsters blog and write a Moshi rap, and a few of you will win a Random Rox prize!

Do you LUUURVE Moshi Monsters? Are you a Furi fanatic? A Zommer zealot? Krazy about Katsumas? More importantly, are you interested in making your own website? There are already some AMAZING Moshi fansites & blogs out there, and if YOU want to get involved, WE want to know about it!

Zann03 is running Moshi Monsters Wiki, and Chillex is running a Moshi Monsters blog. How awesome is that?

Moshionsters love to see Moshi fansites, so why not make one? I might even feature your fansite right here in The Daily Growl! Plus, we’ll be having a fansite CONTEST in the new year and the prizes are gonna be HUGE. But for now, we just wanna know what fansites are out there. EMAIL them at dailygrowl@moshimonsters.com with the web address and the owner name of the creator. Comment on Moshimonsters blog and tell Roary what you would name your Moshi fansite, and a few of you will win a Random Rox prize!

The  Mystery Of  Mr.  Snoodle winners have been announced!

Winners are lollie_54, amzo765, and lolipopcute.

Go congratulate them!

Story by lollie_54

Story by amzo765

Story by lolipopcute

  Congratulations to all of the winners! You three won a HUGE rox prize!

The runner up was tedbear2 .

Their story:

one day there was a very very long line of moshlings ready too be sorted into sets. I.G.G.Y. was first. he was scanned. the machine told him what set to go into. then it was flumpy. the same thing happened. then coolio. “foodies” was the machine’s answer. finally, it was a lone elephant’s turn. he was about to be scanned as “unknown” but three ponies were fighting behind him. one of them fell over into the scanner. the pony moved to the back and the machine guard mistook the pony for the lone elephant. he was taken to the ponies’ section and he told the ponies already there how he had got here. they named him “Mr. Snoodle” after the moshi word for mysteriously mistaken.

and that is why that whenever you see the ponies you know Mr. Snoodle is somewhere nearby, often playing hide-and-scare with them.

-

What great stories! You all deserved your prizes!

URL : http://www.flashgame-girl.com/Puzzle-board/Moshi-Monsters-Puzzle-Palace.html

Game description :

Solve as many puzzles as you can within 60 seconds. Starts easy and gets slightly harder.

Game controls :

Use mouse to interact.

Photo Courtesy of BurdaStyle.com. Photography by Alden Davis

One of the best things about living in New York is the food options.

The city’s food choices is certainly indicative of the cultures that live in it. You can find virtually any type of food here, from Jamaican to Indian to Italian. The options are endless, and one is always discovering a “new place.” Rather than the restaurant chain fare one may find in suburban towns, The Big Apple is home to thousands of small, family-owned businesses that serve to their own unique tastes and audiences. It’s heavenly, especially for a major foodie like me.

I work for a wonderful sewing community called BurdaStyle, which recently relocated its office from Brooklyn to Midtown Manhattan. We now work in the Rockefeller Center, right next to Radio City Music Hall, a considerable jump from our quaint and cozy Brooklyn studio. While I do miss the studio’s comforting charm, the new food options that have accompanied our move more than makes up for the separation.

We are literally surrounded by some of the best restaurants in the city! Our very first day in the new place, we went to a nearby diner called Global Kitchen, which provides a smorgasbord of cultural delights all in one spot, from pasta to sushi to cheeseburgers. I decided to try soba noodles, a hearty noodle made from buckwheat. It was delicious in a vegetable broth with chicken, tofu and vegetables, including some sumptuously sweet pickled squash.

Another day in the office (we’ve decided that Mondays is Restaurant Day), Carol, our team’s resident Midtown Dining Guru, suggested we go to Menchanko Tei, a restaurant specializing in Japanese dining. They served an excellent, affordable lunch, and I particularly loved the Sara Udon, a multi-textured mixture of crunchy egg noodles, pork, shrimp and vegetables layered underneath a well-seasoned gravy.

For dessert, we decided to continue the Japanese theme with dessert from Minamoto Kitchoan, a super-cute Japanese pastry shop. Most of their desserts were made using gelataneous moshi rice and sweetened red bean paste. They were delicious!

Hikaru, our resident graphic designer, and I were also enamored over the adorable bunny and pumpkin-shaped gift boxes they had available.

Our first week’s dining adventure in Midtown landed us among fantastic Asian cuisine. I’m excited to know what other cultures we’ll meet in the neighborhood!

Having spent hours poring over honeymoon brochures and discussing the ins and outs of every possible trip combination we had narrowed down our choice to a safari in the Masai Mara and a week on the beach in Zanzibar with another week free to do something else. At the time a certain high profile trip to the summit of Kilimanjaro was taking place and was all over the TV and as we watched the celebrities sweat their way up to the summit a seed of possibility planted itself.

Our safari in the  Masai Mara we would put us very close (relatively speaking) to the mountain and what started off as a bit of a joke turned into reality; before we knew it we found ourselves finalising the details of a climb up the Machame route – aka The Whisky route, in between safari and Zanzibar. Ideal! The excellent Imagine Africa www.imagineafrica.co.uk organised every detail for us, including transfer to Moshi, accommodation before and after and the climb itself complete with guide, porters and the promise of  over 20 years experience in reaching the summit (or attempting to at least!).

The trip of a lifetime was shaping up to be exactly that and in between preparations for the wedding day itself I indulged in one of my favourite hobbies and bought some shiny new kit!

Here we have a short overview and progress update on St. Timothy’s School in Moshi, Tanzania. Construction began in September of this year and is expected to be completed by Nov. 30th, with children attending in January 2010. I can’t tell you how exciting it’s been to see this project rise from the fields of Newland village! The efficiency and care our local community partner Tanzania Children Concern has been giving this project is a shining example of how communities know best. From local knowledge of land rights, power and water to the best vendors and manufactures. Again and again, it’s made me believe that communities need to be helped to help themselves!

-Bryce

_________
To read about my nonsense between work, check out my personal blog at: neitherherenorthere.org

What started out as a Q and A about thoughts on the new school turned into a “What I want to be..” fest. It really seems to me that kids throughout the world generally have the same aspirations. Whether it’s about excitement or connecting with people, the occupations are usually somehow related with the people who take care or us. And, of course, there’s always one kid who wants to be president.

-Bryce

________
Read about my moments between the work on my personal blog at: neitherherenorthere.org

Our plans were to ask a few of the students what they thought of the school. Thanks to their vigor we ended up with a mob of children ready to tell us how excited they were about the number of toilets. Amazing since it was mere bricks when they saw it! Afterward, James was telling us that some of them wanted to have class in it before it was even completed.  A few wanted to go live in the construction site.  Wow.

-Bryce

_________
To read about my moments and people between the work, check out my personal blog at: neitherherenorthere.org

This was a treat to behold. On October 14th, all the current St. Timothy Students got to visit the construction site of the new school. What’s not included in the video is the jostling and kid climbing the kids did to get into the buses that brought them to the school! Hope you find it as ridiculouly cute as I did.

- Bryce

___________
To read about my moments between the work, check out my personal blog at: neitherherenorthere.org

Here’s a video of Tanzania Children Concern Founder, James Nathaniel getting a lesson about what the heck Facebook Causes is from Lucia. I also had it explained to me about 3 minutes before this video was shot.

You can check out our Causes page for yourself here:

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/60174/15070448?m=e56504ed

-bryce

__________
To read about my moments between the work, check out my personal blog at: neitherherenorthere.org

love the case. i really like the simplicity of this case.

Hello there monsters! Have you been reading the news lately? Ever wonder of “Man! If i were the one to update the horrorscope, I would have to make it more thrilling!”? Now, Roary decided to let others decide what to post in. His running out of ideas! (Or may’be his just slacking off… o_O)

Comment on the blog for your entries. By the way, Keep trying new entries or the old ones if you didn’t win. Im sure you’ll win… Someday.

…”Add your friends, Subtract your enemies, Multiply your love, Divide your hatred.”…

Hello monsters! The MonSTAR was announced! And the winner is… lollipop5621! Congratulations!

This week you’ll be voting for the following MonSTAR hopefuls:

wb9zhc

ashlinncute

elvira0513

georgia19983

isislanae

This week it’s another speed vote. Click here to vote for next week’s MonSTAR!

This week’s contenders were chosen the regular way, but next week the MonSTAR race is going to be a little different. Instead of looking at a bunch of different Moshi stats, we’re going to look at a different one each week. Next week we’re going to be choosing from:

* The top Moshi Tell-A-Frienders. Hint: Use Tell A Friend to get the word out to all your pals. Double Bonus = You get free Rox!

* Stay posted to The Daily Growl and next Monday we’ll announce the top Tell-A-Frienders and you can vote on them for MonSTAR of the week!

…”The best way to do when your imagining that you are in a boat with a shark heading towards you is to STOP IMAGINING!”…

Hello there monsters of Monstro City! Chillex, chilling out here! It’s time, for the winners of the Mystery Egg contest to be exposed! And they’re awesome!

First winner is… Bonehead77789! Congratulations!

“My mystery egg would be made out of bread and if you click on it it would turn into a bread loaf, get out a knife and chop itsself into lots of pieces of bread.”

Another winner is proclaimed… amzo765! Congratulations!

“Mine is a mystery egg decorated like a Russion stocking doll, and when you click on it nine more of them come out like Russian stocking dolls do, it would be so cool!”

The last winner is… richemerald! Congratulations!

“If I could create a Mystery Egg, it would be a red one, with a heart. And if you click on it, it would give you a big kiss and a lipstick mark will appear on your screen!”

They will find a massive ROX prize when they log in, Never experience winning one, But it will be full of joy when you do!

…”Chillax dude, Don’t get irritated when you didn’t get enough ROX, Its just a game, Play, Have Fun and Enjoy!”…

by Lucia Crenshaw

When I wrote you the last blog, I said that I thought things were about to get moving really fast, and I sit here today, exactly one month after breaking ground on the school, completely blown away by just how fast they have gotten moving.

The new school, two months ago just a barren piece of land, is now a completed foundation, and the beginning stages of the exterior walls. So, needless to say, the past month has been extremely busy.

The more time I am here, the more I am aware of things that I take for granted—things both learned and observed. When it comes to the school, I have realized just how reliant I am on technology to build and cultivate things, and how here, almost everything is done by hand. This might not seem like a “no-brainer”—Africa is behind the times when it comes to technology. But after watching the progress of this school, I am starting to wonder if we are not the ones who are in fact “lagging behind in terms of development,” and by development, I mean actually building something from the ground up.

In the past month, I have witnessed exactly this—a building process that is tedious; however, it is beyond resourceful and it involves the whole community. Neighbors store and guard the building supplies; women cook lunches and bring them to the site; and local masons combine their skill and expertise in such a way as to make it look effortless. Many of the workers are members of the community with whom Tanzania Children Concern does outreach with—some are masons who have worked on the current orphanage, others are parents of some of the students. I guess for all of these reasons and more, that is why I get the feeling that this project goes deeper than bricks and mortar. It is a true community project—designed by, built by, and sustained by the community that it will serve.

Tanzania Children Concern has been trying to build this school for over 5 years, but due to financial restraints, they have been unable to do so. James says that this past spring, he received a letter saying that St. Timothy’s must register (which means build a school) as soon as possible, and at the time, he had no idea what they were going to do. He then said, “I can’t believe that I am getting to witness this (the building of the school) in my lifetime! I am just so overjoyed; I can’t wait!” I am right there with James—I feel privileged to be a part of this!

To read more of my personal stories from St. Timothy’s check out my blog:
Luciacrenshaw.blogspot.com

My 7 year old loves to play on the Moshi Monsters web site (www.moshimonsters.com). Not only has it meant I can’t get near a laptop in the early evening, she is inspired by the imaginative characters and the interactive features. She can talk for ages about the shops, games and interior design (!) aspects. Given some plasticine and a camera to play with one afternoon, she insisted that her sister help her make an animation about Moshi Monsters. This is it:

She then went on to write me a report on why she should be able to play it at school:

On Moshi monsters you have your own monster and then you get your own house!!!! You can click on the door to go outside and buy things outside is like a map. You can click on the places you wold (sic) like to go. and by things. You press scroll to move your moshi left and right.. if you click another moshi monster you make friends with them. After you’ve ben shoping (sic) you might wont to play some puzzles time challange (sic) or hall of puzzles on time challange its a challnge  hall of puzzles you choose a puzzle and on to play. If you click on your pet it tickles it your pets eyes follow your mouse when it moves. You get your own garden and you can plant 3 seeds to get your own pet a pet!!! At the side of the house is some writing and pictures one is your pets happy and its tempiture (sic)…

and theres lots more youve got a box at the side of the screen and if you click on it, it will have all of the wallpaper. Now that’s all you need to know. Good luck and play it.

So that’s Chia’s review! She isn’t allowed to play it at school but must chat with friends about it and although they don’t live nearby they can play together in the evening in this virtual world.