Tips for Google-stalking my blog...

A few weeks ago, I officially celebrated my one year anniversary of moving to Zambia. I really should put an asterisk, however, next to the word ‘celebrate.’ I pretty much stuck to my favorite Lusaka activities of: ‘breathing polluted air’, ‘getting honked at by seventeen taxi drivers’, and ‘brushing my teeth with previously boiled water because I still don’t trust the tap water after a year and I see no reason why I should start now’.


Anyways, I think my first ‘post-one year anniversary of moving to Lusaka’ blog entry should be a reflection on the success of the blog. The original premise behind creating these entries was to document all of the inane stories and situations that are naturally presented to a ridiculously immature 20-something adult who is indefinitely moving to a developing country just 6 weeks after making his first international trip….to Canada…for a day. I figured that tons of other random doods have well-documented the ‘big picture’ entries on living conditions, cultural differences, and Kairos-like monologues about how much they were changed spiritually. I wanted something sufficiently random.


I’m almost positive my blog has been successful beyond my expectations.


Here’s why…

I really try to keep my blog a secret from people who live in Zambia…even my friends. The reasoning is that I don’t want word-of-mouth traffic to spread to the point where people who don’t know me and don’t understand my humor my take something I write in the wrong way. I intentionally don’t mention the company I work for so that no one can suggest that what I am writing is the opinion of my organization.

I do, however, constantly brag about how awesome my blog is. (Some may argue that my narcissism about my own writing, rather than my desire to inform and entertain my friends/family back in the States, is the real reason why I blog…and they may be right.) I’ll describe how the blog makes references to Boy Meets Word (side note: I still hate Topenga. I’m glad that she’s still fat and has a drinking problem.) and other things I miss from the states.


Apparently, one of my extremely bored friends tried to google search for my blog and after repeated attempts was able to find it. So, what was the search query which led to the discovery of my blog?

‘ Red Vines + Basketball + Zambia’.

I’m not going to lie. I’m not even upset she found the blog. Just knowing that I am the leading voice in the entire world for those who enjoy delicious cherry licorice while watching a select sporting activity in a developing sub-Saharan country is more than I could have ever imagined. I feel like the 50+ entries over the course of the last year were worth it. I have no other choice than to keep on blogging during year two.


(Editors note: It appears the above-referenced query no longer links to my blog. I’m not entirely sure what happened over the last 3 weeks to make this happen, but it’s extremely unfortunate. However, my sources have been doubled-checked and I have confirmed that this was the original query.)