About the Title of this Blog.

I married the love of my life on September 11, 2009. Much to our pleasant surprise, President Obama commemorated this date by naming it a Day of National Service. It seems we were not the only people trying to positively transcend the significance of this day beyond doom and gloom.

Through a simple civil ceremony at the DC Courthouse, we were legally conferred the titles of husband and wife graduating up from the youthful titles of boyfriend and girlfriend and graduating away from the gender ambiguous titles partners. It became quickly apparent the state holds a pronounced preference for the former title, as we were greeted with an onslaught of newly conferred benefits from the state, irrespective of our uninterrupted feelings for each other as we moved seamlessly from boyfriend and girlfriend to husband and wife.

Strange Victory.

Less than 7 weeks after the date of our marriage and legal union, I left the country to pursue an opportunity in Tanzania made possible to me through generous fellowship funding from the U.S. Government.

However, apparently the state benefits conferred to those legally wed have limits and boundaries. My husband continues to seek either health care coverage or full-time employment, or both, as the case may be, to join me on this yearlong adventure. And thus, I am here alone until further notice. In the mean time, this blog is designed to provide a medium for me to communicate my experiences in Tanzania to him as well as any other friends and family back home curious to share in my experiences.

Strange Defeat.

And so it seems, life, as aptly described by David Berman, is a series of strange victories and strange defeats. I anticipate this year in Africa too will represent a succession of victories and defeats, ranging from unfamiliar to peculiar to unexpected to extraordinary to mystifying to perplexing, all sharing strange characteristics. I remain hopeful the balance will come up positive, and thus, this blog has been named Strange Victory.


This blog is dedicated to the special someone in my life who gifted me a camera to visually capture my experiences here.