Mammoth Cave Pix

Just a few pix from Mammoth Cave Kentucky - it is the longest cave system in the world, but since it is dark in there, well, there aren't a lot of pictures:)

Champagne of Beers

Today - time for a haircut! The last several have been done with a Swiss Army Knife, so I think whoever the lucky stylist is may be in for a surprise.

Last night, not a glass of wine, but the champagne of beers (sorry Dad, raided the fridge and that was what was there) and movie! For the American readers, this may not sound very exciting, but trust me, these are special times.

This morning there were two crabs in the trap. Lunch coming right up!

Back in Business

Yeeehaaawww!! Made it to Harford County, got my old number hooked up (410.948.0464), ate mozzarella sticks & jalapeno poppers & went to Blockbuster. Gonna hang on the river, maybe have a glass of wine, and watch the herons, eagles, gulls, and hawks wheel around the sky. The roses and all of the flowers are blooming all over the yard, the weather is perfect and the air is fresh and American. I am one happy Marylander right now. I think I will find some good Maryland corn and crabs on the side of the road tomorrow and steam them for lunch. All by myself.
Yum.
PS - I just found out I passed the Foreign Service Written Exam today. Now I wait until December to see if I am invited to take the Oral Exam. Kind of exciting all around. Some days it is simply good to be an American in America. Today is one of them.

More France!

Yesterday we rented a convertible clown car and drove over 300k to a village outside of Poitiers to visit a friend of Kevin's family. Most of the trip was on the A10 (holy expensive tolls!) passing all of the tantalizing signs for the sights of the Loire Valley before entering into Poitou-Charentes. Sister/Mother Mary-Jean is a nun who lives in France and was visiting her sister and family on their estate. The family was lovely and welcoming and the house was absolutely beautiful. Kevin was able to bring messages of love from his Mom to Sister Mary-Jean and taped a video message. I know this means a lot to them and I was lucky to be a part of it.

We were also able to stop at Villandry, my favorite gardens

Kevin & I in the clown car outside Sister Mary-Jean's family home

Sister Mary-Jean's family's home

There were fields of sunflowers everywhere -- miles upon miles

French countryside

Paris

Paris is amazing (well, duh!). And FREEZING! I have had to buy two pairs of tights, a sweater, and a coat.

Kevin has been updating his blog with pictures and stuff. He is more diligent than I. Check here: http://www.projectkb.blogspot.com/

Went to Laon yesterday, a town about 2 hours north of Paris. It was lovely:

On the train Laon view

Laon view In the cemetary

Cracking up and falling to the ground Kevin and the cathedral

Back down the hill and celebrating Back in Paris, tired & celebrating with grodey shot

Sad Goodbyes

I had to say goodbye to one of my closest friends in country a few weeks ago, and now I have to say goodbye to another today. Four of us came in together and have been close friends since almost the beginning. A tribute to the now disbanded Pi-Pis. I will love always love you (at least more than Celine Dion). OK, that wasn't fair: more than Togo. Ok, ok: more than mozzarella sticks.

Young & naive:

Teaching Togolese children how to smear fireflies on your your skin and other PETA-riffic activities

Aren't we bien-integre?

With one in Oregon, one in Florida, me in Maryland, and the other remainer in Chicago, it will be a long time until we are together again. Ladies, you mean more to me than you will ever know.

Floods, Crises, etc. in Togo

See article below. I happen to live on the Route Nationale, the only highway in Togo. The one cut off from the capitol. The 100 km detour the giants semis are taking, yeah well, there is a tiny dirt track that cuts through my town and goes 51 km to the secondary highway that one can then take to the capitol. Imagine, semis laden Africa-style with literally all of the goods coming to and from not just Togo, but all of Burkina Faso as well add mud, lots of mud. They get a few km and tip over, it takes hours to get them out and there are hulks just sitting at the side of the path (for that truly is what is, usually used only by bicycles and motorcycles and people walking). The villages along this little-used track are freaking blown away. They have never seen so much activity. It took several interesting hours to travel 51km and all of my freshly-scrubbed ready for France luggage, etc. is COVERED in dirt. One good thing is the corn has been harvested and dried in whole area so the increase in traffic allows these people to sell their corn much more quickly and at better prices. A bowl of corn has gone from around less than $1 to over $3 because farmers can't get their product to market.
Not sure if it is good or bad that I am leaving right now, but I do know I don't want to make that trip again any time soon.
Oh, and the government said the bridges won't be fixed until around December/January. Gravy.


France assists Togo after floods kill 9, cut roads
Sat 2 Aug 2008, 13:41 GMT

By John Zodzi
LOME (Reuters) - French soldiers have been dispatched to Togo to help the tiny West African nation tackle floods that have killed nine people this week, destroyed bridges and raised some food prices due to disrupted transport.
No estimate has been given yet on the financial scale of the damage but one immediate impact was an increase in the cost of maize -- already high from the global food and fuel crisis -- as some agricultural areas are cut off from consumers.
"We have today nine victims and nine bridges down," Celestin Ekpaou Talaki, Togo's minister for public works, transport and town planning, told state television late on Friday.
The French soldiers from a peacekeeping mission in nearby Ivory Coast will repair a bridge north of the capital which has been destroyed, shutting down country's main highway, an official in the prime minister's office said.
The floods were caused by unexpected heavy rains in Togo's south, which have swollen the Hao and Zio rivers north of Lome.
On top of the roads, several sections of railway have been cut off.
Donors have held crisis meetings with the government and Togo's development minister said a way must be found to help the "thousands of people who are stuck in their homes".
Assistance from France comes after Togo's army began helping deliver food and non-food items to those in need.
Neighbouring Ghana has also offered military assistance.
Until the French engineers can help re-open the main artery to the north, transporters serving Sahel countries such as Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali will have to make a 100 km detour.
Escalating global food and fuel costs are hitting Africa's poor particularly hard as these goods make up a greater proportion of incomes than in other parts of the world.
A Reuters witness in Lome said the impact of the floods could already be seen in the markets, where the price of a cup of maize had nearly doubled, rising to 1,400 CFA francs from 850 CFA francs just three days earlier.