http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Brownie/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Brownie en-us Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:41:39 +0000 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:41:39 +0000 If Australia is truly a paradise on Earth as it has been described to me on numerous occasions I can only assume that this is a seasonal assessment of the place. I arrived in what is nearly the dead of winter and I can say without exaggeration that the place is almost bleak. The sky is gray everyday with only occasional bursts of sunshine and frequent showers. Itrsquos cold about 13 degree http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-290585.html Hi everyoneWell this is officially the last blog post from my trip to Burkina Faso which began on May 5th of last year. And what a trip it has been With the many ups and downs mainly downs at first I will admit I can honestly say I have gotten more out of this experience than I could have hoped for. It has been rewarding professionally but even more so personally. Really there is no way to http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Centre/Ouagadougou/blog-134554.html Hi everyoneMy imminent departure has given me new cause to reflect on things here in West Africa and I find myself making lists in my mind of things to remember. I have decided to post this list on my blog even though I do not have pictures of everything and you may not appreciate it as fully as someone who has been here. But you've all been along for the ride so what the hell kids I am talk http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/blog-131321.html Hi everyoneWell this message is one that I'm sure none of you are expecting... I sure wasn't Well without going into too much detail I will cut right to the chase. I am coming home. For good. In two weeks. So there you have it I guess I'm no good at suspense... Things here have taken a very unexpected turn which I can't explain without swearing a lot. Basically just know that our company has http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Centre/Ouagadougou/blog-129755.html Hey everybodySorry about that last post. It's pretty old Jan 29 but I was trying to load some pics that weren't working then I forgot about it. Technical difficultiesSo what's happened since then you ask Lots Continued sucking the old marrow of course. Things here are going great and I am so THANKFUL to be happy and productive. The health issues of tiredness have continued which is annoyi http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Centre/Ouagadougou/blog-127368.html I went into the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life...to put to rout all that was not life and not when I came to die discover that I had not lived.Henry David Thoreau Hey everybody Ok so maybe it's a bit cliche but may I say that this quote has never held so much meaning I feel like today is a good day in a string of good http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Centre/Ouagadougou/blog-123728.html Hi everybodySorry I've been out of touch for awhile. Things were pretty crazy getting out of Burkina before Christmas. The biggest reason was a second and much more severe bout of malaria. Thanks to my good buddy Guy I got to the doctor and got treatment but it was a very VERY unpleasant plane ride home as my liver swelled and almost caused me to stay over in Niger... Which would have been bad. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Centre/Ouagadougou/blog-117404.html Hi everybodyI hope you're all doing super. As per the previous email this weekend was a particularly active one as Guy and I tested our mettle in a 26km runbike race. We raced from here in town to an outside village called Koubri. They have a monastery there that makes the BEST yogourt Saturday we spent the day preparing for the race on Sunday. We had to collect the bike I would ride from anot http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Centre/Ouagadougou/blog-110312.html Hey everybodyNo your eyes have not deceived you I got pulled over by the cops again I honestly wish I were kidding but sadly I am not. I won't go into the details of it because it will just get me blinded by rage yet again but suffice it to say this time was even more interesting than the first. I remembered to pack my driver's lisence at least but the cop decided he was going to take it http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Centre/Ouagadougou/blog-109380.html Hi everyone I hope you're all safe and sound and happy that the holidays are coming. I know I am So the newest episode in the adventure is pretty exciting. I had my first meaningful encounter with the police. Now the police here are actually the army so they all have really giant guns and are pretty much to be avoided as much as possible. They almost always look unpleasant and you have to know http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Centre/Ouagadougou/blog-107723.html Hello everyoneI hope you're all having a super day so far. I'm pleased at the moment because it's FRIDAY and that means tomorrow I can only work HALF THE DAY and watch RUGBY on TV Woot The Springboks are playing England tomorrow and I will definitely be hoping the Boks give 'em hell. Anyone but the English right Sorry Stue Other than looking forward to rugby things are going well. I've b http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Centre/Ouagadougou/blog-105555.html Hi everybody Sorry I haven't had much news lately. The reason being I've been back home I am lucky enough to work for a company whose head office is in my hometown so when I got sent there to develop some corporate policy with our execs I was only too happy Sorry I didn't mention anything sooner but I was trying to surprise my folks which I very happily did The whole thing went something http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Ontario/Ottawa/blog-99536.html Hi everyoneI hope you're all well and that the coldness of Canada isn't getting to you quite yet. Here it's still toasty warm about 37 degrees during the day here in the city. Up at site it's still past 40 degrees.... unbelievable... Before I go any further I want to say hello to Danielle and her teacherclassmates whoever is reading. I heard that you'd tuned in to my writings and I just wante http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Centre/Ouagadougou/blog-96540.html Heya everybody I hope you are all well. I'm back at the office late tonight because I just couldn't digest what's been happening all alone... So when I went to go to dinner tonight on site my driver took me to the kitchen which is a few buildings away. On the way he says to me Madame I want to ask you if it's ok if I find some company to relieve myself. And I'm thinking what Like he has http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/blog-95621.html Heya everyoneWell life in Ouaga has officially become normal. I'm bored. I know it sounds crazy since it's all so different and everything but really it's getting a bit old. I'm tired of living in the company guest house because I feel like I'm a teenager living with my parents again. sorry Mom and Dad but we all knew it was better that I moved out. I feel guilty if I crawl in at 2 or 3a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Centre/Ouagadougou/blog-95370.html Hi everyoneWell I'm pleased to finally make the appropriate introductions. As many of my faithful readership already know I've been gradually expropriating the cat that hangs around my friend's house here and I finally succeeded in bringing him home. Brad got shipped off to Mali for an undetermined amount of time so we agreed that my place would be the best place for the little kitty. I finall http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Centre/Ouagadougou/blog-94557.html Hey everybodyI hope you're all well. Now that the fun and games of vacation are over it's all work work work again So we ran the muchawaited well drilling program in the rural communities last week. It was a logistical nightmare but somehow we managed it. Unfortunately the geophysics were a bit misleading and we only got one positive point out of the three we drilled. That means only one of http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burkina-Faso/Centre/Ouagadougou/blog-94272.html Hi everybodySo sorry this has taken so long... Work has gotten out of control and I had to spend a week in the field. So no blogging. Boo. But now that's over and I'm back in nice comfortable Ouaga and I thought I'd recap a bit the trip to Zanzibar. So here goes So after the agonizing climb up Kilimanjaro I was looking for some welldeserved rest. So I got on the plane at the Arusha Airport and http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/Zanzibar/Zanzibar-City/blog-93528.html Hi everybody Sorry for the long long radio silence. I've been away from computers and all things technological for quite awhile now. But I'm ready to write down the whole Kilimanjaro experience now. Yes Tezza I did take notes so you wouldn't miss a THING As for Zanzibar I'm going to save that as a seperate entry so tune in again soon... KILIMANJARODeparture from Ghana So I stayed in http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Mount-Kilimanjaro/blog-91014.html Heya everybodyWell I never thought this day would come but it's here. I leave tonight for Nairobi The journey is sure to be interesting and challenging but I'm pumped and I feel ready to take it on. I am mainly trying to focus on the journey of climbing the mountain of getting to know the people in my group and facing the challenges that each day offers rather than always thinking of the summ http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ghana/Greater-Accra/Accra/blog-87336.html