Wrapping Things Up..

Well, my time in Africa is slowly coming to an end..and what an adventure it has been! Tomorrow, we're heading over to a colleague's place to watch the implosion of the Four Seasons (Quatro Estacoes) hotel and then I'll be off to raise a ruckus around town. For those of you who know a certain Luis Couto, you should understand completely what I mean.

By the Skin of My Teeth..

Made it into Maputo.

Laughable, man...

after weeks and months of waiting for a passport/visas, getting vaccinations, country cables from embassies, cancelled flights/reservations, etc. i finally got my orders approved today. 5pm today, less than 24 hours before i leave, and the tickets magically appear on my desk. i have no idea how they got here. i'm sure buying these tickets last minute got the USG a good rate:)

just had an intense day-long dry-run of my training..got tons of great feedback..looks like 1 day will turn into 2..am excited to finally put names with faces out in country. i'm so impressed with everyone I work with and couldn't ask for better support from my colleagues. i'm still in shock with the number of hours i'm working, the amount of info im learning, and the fun im having. what a night and day difference this is from some other offices i worked in.

Come On In...

...I gotta tell you what a state I'm in!

well, I asked for I guess! Worked the whole weekend through and still no end in sight. 1,000 different things hitting me at once. I feel like that hollywood war soldier who keeps marching on while getting hit with bullets piercing him in every direction. How can I still be standing? No pain, no glory!

just the basics..

..a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers...eat your heart, pos. I know you will like this picture;)

Losing the World, One Country at a Time...

I have to chuckle (or cry) when I see Bush doing his Latin American tour and Chavez doing his "rival" Latin American tour. No matter where you come down (left, right, center, up, down) on the political spectrum, there's no doubt that the current not-so-erudite US administration has done (intentionally or not) all it can to lose the hearts and minds of the average person in city xyz in country xyz. Poor guys. They haven't a clue on how to win this. And while problems of war, famine, terrorism, oppression, disease, poverty, global warming, etc. etc. continue to persist, I turn on the CNN and they superficially discuss whether or not the next possible leader could possibly be black or a woman. Way to tackle the issues of our time. At least it's good to know that life is alive and well in the bubble. Ah, interesting times..

It takes brass balls...

AH, I haven't had a laugh like this in awhile..

Gaines, it was too good not to link to my site. Happy Friday everyone!

I bet you anything the owner of that car sells real estate 'cause you know what it takes to sell real estate...

COFFEE'S FOR CLOSERS, YOU HEAR THAT POS?!

muchas gracias;)

thanks to all who remembered. and esp thanks for those who called, SMS'd, MSN'd, AIM'd, emailed, commented on my blog,wrote a blog, sent a gift, card, giftcard, or flew 12 hours through delays and stormy, snowy Chicago to cook me steak;) How did I get such cool friends...and gf? Amazing. Unfortunately for me, I've played too much these past few weeks and i'm spending the night "grounded" in the office. such is life...ups and downs, strikes and gutters...;)Thanks again, everyone!

Antipodes

Ah, the joys of useless information. Did you know the antipode of Shanghai is Buenos Aires? That Spain's antipode is New Zealand? The rest of us are probably in some ocean. I'm going to be near Hawaii's antipode later this month. Good stuff to impress your friends with at a cocktail party:) Where's your antipode? My alternate self is somewhere off the coast of Perth..in the Indian Ocean:)

Greenland. Bring A Coat!

Last night I ventured out to Greenland, or rather Greenland came to see me. Tres' band Greenland came down from Nashville to play. I haven't seen him perform in years!



This video earned him and the band a free trip to NY on Good Morning America for youtube video of the week;)!

Entertaining stuff as to be expected from Tres! Keep it up, man!