Sunday, January 28, 2007

It's official I'm here!!!


Wow I can hardly believe it. Today is Sunday for me and we have been here three days and it feels like a lifetime. Above in me and Whitney at Lusaka National Airport (Laura took the picture) A quick recap of the past week:

The going away parties where great but went by so quick! I saw my MN people last friday night, we all brought way too much food so I was able to build up my considerable "personal food storage" even more. Saturday I tried to relax with family and Sunday was the great Gray/Awes/Damerow Chili cookoff, and everybody who tried them all was a winner cuz man they were good.

Monday morning bright and early I said goodbye to my fam, Mom tried not to cry in front of me (I didn't buy it;)

Monday through Wednesday was Staging in Washington DC. Basically getting our things in order for Africa as well as some basic Peace corps advice and most of all getting to know some of the great people we'll be working with over the next two years. It flew by. We also got a chance to say goodbye to a few more DC folks. Christina thanks again for the TSA approved locks!
Wednesday Morning we left our hotel at 5:30am got a few shots (just yellow fever needed for me) and heading to the airport 5 hours early. We took a 15 hour flight to Johannesberg South Africa. The flight was the longest I'd ever taken (3 hours longer than my South Korea flight) but I maganed to sleep and watch a few African movies including "Faith like potatoes" and "Beat that drum". I liked the latter more than the former but both were interesting. We then spent the night there

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Where I've been

Before I depart for a new country and continent I thought it'd be fun to show where I've been.
Here are my travels in the US:

'=

And here's the world:

http://www.world66.com/community/mymaps/worldmap?visited=CAUSMXINJPPHKRAU


wow I've still got a lot of place to go ;)


create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

Monday, January 8, 2007

Mosi oa Tunya


Mosi oa Tunya meaning "the smoke that thunders" is otherwise known as Victoria Falls. It is definitely on the list of must sees while Laura and I are in Zambia. The the falls are more than a mile wide and 420ft high, which is slightly larger than Minnehaha Falls in MN. However thanks to trouble in bordering Zimbabwe and the resulting development plans in Zambia, it looks like the time to see it is sooner rather than later. Hopefully when I see it there won't be a huge resort obstructing my view.

(The falls) have been a tourist hotspot since 1905, but Unesco is now considering listing the site as "endangered" because of mismanagement that has allowed the once prosperous resort to deteriorate.

Furthermore, over-zealous Zambian developers are proposing to build 500 chalets in a national park overlooking the falls, prompting warnings that the plan could lead Unesco to remove the site'sWorld Heritage status immediately.

continued at:

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2132577.ece