#Twoyearanniversary

The 2011 Health and Environment class, at our Close of Service Conference, August 29th, 2013, at South Beach Resort.  Preparing for our last few months in country of goodbyes, reintegration in the USA, and looking back on our months of service.

A lot can happen in two years making it seem dauntingly long, yet, at other times, a short blink of a moment.  On my two-year anniversary in Tanzania I took a look back at all that has happened since I first stepped off the plane (October, 12^th, 2011), to a very humid Dar, and looking cleaner than I would be for the next 700+ days.  Luckily, I’ve been able to keep all of you up to date on all that has happened to me.  However, as we finished our Close of Service Conference in August, and were told to start preparing for ‘goodbyes’ and reverse culture shock these last few months, I realized I needed to get up to speed on what has happened at ‘home.’ 

Talk about a strange research project.  #whydopeoplereallydothishashtagthingallthetimeinallseriousness

For a solid 3 months I didn’t know what was ‘Orange is the New Black.’  I thought it was another YOLO until Google helped me out.  And Scandal is just another television show, right?  Although considering the large amount of my Facebook friends constantly posting about it I think it may be the new ‘Greys Anatomy.’ Don’t worry guys/gals, there is absolutely NO WAY I could give away what happened on that recent, crazy-filled episode.

While we’re at it, who are all of these new bands on the billboard charts?  Was ‘Thriftshop’ really that popular?  And what happened to Amanda Bynes?  Looking through pop culture lists I can safely say I don’t understand a majority of what people ‘tweet’ about and will openly make fun of anyone who says ‘hashtag’ in a conversation.

Politics, well talk about some serious issues getting hashed out in the last few years.  From Supreme Court decisions, to gun control, rape culture, and race relations, to one hell of an election year.  I may want to discuss issues your are drained of talking about....fair warning.

Perhaps to help you understand just how much has happened in two years, here is a very brief list to remind you of some of the USA and semi-world shenanigans since I first arrived in Tanzania.  Of course, a majority of the news items I have heard of, HOWEVER, I can say with a lot of certainty that events like the (far too) numerous mass shootings, the tragic Trayvon Martin case and never-ending presidential election looked slightly different 8,000 miles away.   

Oct-Dec 2011:

• First 2 weeks of NBA season canceled, and a lock out occurs
• Over 2000 people march in Chicago for Occupy Wall Street protests (several others took place across the country and world)
• Moammar Gadhafi is killed....and there is a Gadhafi building in Dodoma
• President Obama announces pull out of troops in Iraq
• Libya rebels continue to fight the government army long months after Arab spring began
• Joe Paterno fired and a child sex abuse scandal ensues at Penn State.  This was the first piece of news I learned after living with my homestay for 5 weeks and I was SHOCKED.  Other volunteers thought I was lying when I told them.
• Gabrielle Giffords speaks publicly for the first time
• Blagojevich sentencing, yea Chicago.
• Mission Impossible, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Iron Lady, The Descendents, Hugo….thanks to volunteer media sharing I did see ‘The Descendents.’
• Kim Jong-il dies

2012:

• Iowa Republican caucus tie with Santorum and Romney/Romney wins New Hampshire, Gingrich wins South Carolina
• Swiss scientists demonstrates thought-controlled robot
• SOPA blackout becomes the largest protest in the history of the internet
• 73 killed in Egyptian football riots in Port Said
• The Red Cross is denied access to provide relief to the Baba Amr district in Homs by the Syrian army
• Coca-Cola begins business in Myanmar after 60 years
• Vladimir Putin wins Russian presidential election amid allegations of voter fraud
• Wendy’s overtakes Burger King to become the second best selling ‘hamburger’ chain
• President Barack Obama officially states his support for same sex marriage
• Phillip Phillips is crowned the 11^th American Idol winner
• Eli Manning wins his second Superbowl MVP, beating the Patriots 21-17
• Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Lincoln, This is 40, Looper, Silver Linings Playbook, and Brave, Hunger Games
• Queen Elizabeth II marks her 60^th Anniversary of becoming Britain’s monarch
• When did ‘Breaking Bad’ become SO HUGE and suddenly a must watch in it’s last seasons?
• Zambia wins Africa Cup of Nations over Ivory Coast, 8-7
• Linsanity
• Kony 2012 backfire and subsequent downfall of director
• Time’s Breasfeeding cover shocker
• Deaths: Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees, Whitney Houston, Beastie Boys founder Adam Yauch, Davy Jones,  Dick Clark, Maurice Sendak, Rodney King, Nora Ephron, Andy Griffith, Sally Ride, Neil Armstrong,  Andy Williams, Arlen Specter
• Marissa Mayer Yahoos new CEO
• Jessica Simpson has first of 2 children during my service
• Mohamed Morsi is sworn in as President of Egypt
• Google fiber in KC
• Summer Olympics in London:  Missy Franklin, Gabby Douglas, female athletes from Saudi Arabia and Ryan Lochte
• YOLO….. YO I don’t get it
• The American Episcopal Church becomes the first to approve a rite of blessing for gay marriages
• Hurricane Sandy
• Walt Disney purchases LucasFilms Ltd.
• Julian Assange is granted political asylum in Ecuador
• The gang rape of a woman on a bus in India results in her death and international outrage
• Chicago Teachers strike
• TomKat totes broke up
• The entire presidential race…..and binders full of women
• Call Me Maybe, Ho Hey, Stereo Hearts,  It’s Time, Sexy and I Know It, Not Over You,  Whistle, Locked Out of Heaven,  Home, We’re Never Ever Getting Back Together,  Starships, We Found Love,  Give Your Heart  A Break,  Stronger, We Are Young
• Lance Armstrong losses a host of endorsements in wake of doping scandal
• In general, the completely inappropriate, and constant sexist comments in the media and by ‘leaders.’  Particularly concerning rape culture in America.  Although this is not new, it certainly became a big news event, as it should.
• Instagram got really, REALLY big (2 years after hipsters started using it)
• Trayvon Martin is killed
• Memes and Gifs….I don’t get this either.  Are these abbreviations for real words?
• The worst power outage in world history, leave 620 million people in India without power
• Liberian president Charles Taylor found guilty on 11 counts relating to war crimes
• 16 ‘mass’ shootings in the US (according to ‘The Nation’ and defined as multi-victim shootings where those killed were chosen indiscriminately): including Newtown, Aurora, Sikh Temple, and Texas A&M
• Honey Boo Boo
• Fifty Shades of Grey
• Gangnam Style became the most viewed youtube video of all time-why?
• Mayan Apocalypse….that never happened

2013:

• JJs Restaurant explosion in Kansas City
• Boston marathon bombing
• Blurred Lines, Same Love, Thriftshop, Mirrors, We Can’t Stop, Just Give Me a Reason, Get Lucky, New Slaves… Don’t judge me when I’m listening to Now 349 to catch up on the last few years…..
• Spring Breakers, Fruitvale Station, Gravity, This is the End, Monsters University, Man of Steel
• Wendy Davis filibuster against Texas abortion limits: Governor 2014!
• Ariel Castro captured after captives found trying to escape, later convicted and died in his cell
• 39 international workers and 1 security guard die in a hostage crisis in Algeria
• 3D printer-whaaaaaaaaaa?
• Benedict XVI resigns as pope and Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio is elected the 266^th pope
• Libya is accused of using chemical weapons after spiraling into a horrible civil war
• Kanye West and Kim Kardashian have baby North, and America gets another reality star
• Elie Goulding-who ARE these people?
• Edward Snowden discloses operations engaged by a US government mass surveillance program
• Sharknado
• Westgate shopping mall attack in Kenya-which has already started to affect Tanzanian tourism
• Miley Cyrus twerking….maybe the Mayan Apocalypse is actually set for 2013?
• George Zimmerman found not guilty
• Prince George of Cambridge is born
• North Korea conducts its third underground nuclear test…… and CNN freaked out with capitalized, red lettered, fear inducing, breaking news headings.
• Deaths: Hugo Chavez, Margaret Thatcher, Corey Monteith
• Government shutdown!  Thanks, petulant 3-year olds.  Yes, this IS affecting Peace Corps.
• Supreme court takes one step forward for marriage equality and one giant step backwards for voting rights.
• Kansas City Chiefs fans break Guinness World Record for loudest crowd…I like to think this was due in part to the craziest fans I know (Mary and Cara Smith).

A lot can happen in two years, with me, with all of you and across the world.  This research project was, shockingly, very informative and very necessary as I focus on leaving Tanzania indefinitely and moving back to the midwest.

And this whole reintegration thing….I got it, and I think I’m ready for you, USA.  But first I’m gonna follow a YOLO motto for the next few months, enjoy my BongaFlava music, and hashtag in Swahili.  #becauseican  #mwafaka