Over the Christmas holiday I was blessed with the resources to be able to come home. This was a very chill trip. I stayed at my parents and a few special people from Orlando either came down to Venice to meet me or met me in Tampa. I spent a lot of time at home enjoying friends, family, and the wonderful relaxation.
On the way back to Dar I made my layover in Turkey an extended one and got to explore Istanbul for a few days. The city, which lies partly in Europe and partly in Asia, is a beautiful dichotomy of the Muslim and Western worlds, of Eastern Europe and of the Middle East. A lot of the architecture of the buildings was quite European as was the dress of many young people. The older women looked very Eastern European too. It was neat to see a city that has been under both Orthodox and Musli
m rule and the remnants of history that it has left behind. One historic site I visited, the Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom), was built in A.D. 360 as an Orthodox basilica and was used as such until 1453 when it became a mosque under the Ottoman empire. For four short years it also served as a Roman Catholic church. Then, in 1931 it was secularized and has become a museum and landmark since. The result of multiple rulings has had a huge impact on its interior design. Biblical frescoes and murals were covered up when it became a mosque, most of which has now been restored. I spent a lovely afternoon touring this breathtakingly beautiful piece of architecture and history, learning about all of its symbolism and admiring the art, down to the colors of marble and symmetry at every turn. At the end of this post I have attached multiple photo gallery links for different events. Be sure to check out my pictures of Istanbul to see the Hagia Sophia and many of the other wonders of Istanbul.December is a 
short rainy season for Tanzania. It often rains for an hour or two in the afternoon most of the month before drying again until the longer rains in April. This month, however, it rained...and rained...and rained. My apartment complex is in a flood plain that has been created since the building of these apartments. In addition to Dar's terrible drainage system (there basically isn't one), some infrastructure and flood walls failed and my housing area had flash flooding. Within two hours we had more than 1 meter of water! Thankfully, my apartment is on the 3rd floor and I did not receive any direct and serious water damage. Most of my neighbors were also out of town for the holiday when it happened. Many things in homes were lost and a great amount of damage has occurred. The bridge that connects a large part of the city to our neighborhood was washed out and the sewer main on our property broke. =/ The school did an amazing job responding quickly and appropriately, bringing in many cleaners and groups to help control the flooding and begin the clean up process before many of us arrived. Our housekeepers spent their holidays cleaning and preparing for our arrival. Seven or eight of my colleagues are still not able to live in their homes and we are still experiencing many water outages and mold problems. 
short rainy season for Tanzania. It often rains for an hour or two in the afternoon most of the month before drying again until the longer rains in April. This month, however, it rained...and rained...and rained. My apartment complex is in a flood plain that has been created since the building of these apartments. In addition to Dar's terrible drainage system (there basically isn't one), some infrastructure and flood walls failed and my housing area had flash flooding. Within two hours we had more than 1 meter of water! Thankfully, my apartment is on the 3rd floor and I did not receive any direct and serious water damage. Most of my neighbors were also out of town for the holiday when it happened. Many things in homes were lost and a great amount of damage has occurred. The bridge that connects a large part of the city to our neighborhood was washed out and the sewer main on our property broke. =/ The school did an amazing job responding quickly and appropriately, bringing in many cleaners and groups to help control the flooding and begin the clean up process before many of us arrived. Our housekeepers spent their holidays cleaning and preparing for our arrival. Seven or eight of my colleagues are still not able to live in their homes and we are still experiencing many water outages and mold problems. 
This is the view of my front yard. Notice the SUVs on the far right.
The surrounding neighborhoods were also severely damaged and over 3 dozen people lost their lives. The Tanzanian meteorological society said that this much rain has not been seen in over half a century and the infrastructure here is developing, to say the least. Having said that, as is the case in many disastrous situations, we have seen people give so much to help and there has been an outpouring of support from the school community.As I mentioned in my last post, I have decided not to resign my contract here at I.S.T. for the following year, so I will be moving when school is out this June. On February 1st I will attend a job fair in Boston, MA and spend four nervous, exciting, grueling days interviewing and hopefully will make a decision then. I'm seriously contemplating large Asian cities (Shanghai, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, etc) but am also open to moving back to the states or wherever God leads me! Stay tuned for news in the next few weeks!
Photo Galleries
Istanbul
4 Day Weekend in Zanzibar
