A three hour tour...a three hour tour... Peter, Leslie & I took an evening tour of Washington, DC that lasted what felt like 6 hours. I was so relieved when we finally we headed back when the driver announced that we were crossing state lines and approaching Virginia! For what? To look at a hundred more monuments. That's what Washington is all about...monuuuuuments. Lots of them. One of the neat things that happened on the tour is that the Vice-President drove by in a 6 car convoy and I saw him wave. Basically, everyone stops driving, walking, or whatever they are [View Full Entry]

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War doesn't determine who is right, war determines who is left. - Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), English philosopher, author, 1950 Nobel Prize-winner in Literature Galib has had some time to reflect on the people of Sudan. Here are his thoughts: "Well, it has been over month on the ground and I want to tell you a little about the Sudanese people. The ones I came here to meet and to possibly help. They are an interesting people, a social people with a great deal of pride. I love driving to work everyday by the villages and by the schools in the city [View Full Entry]

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Excerpt from Galib's emails: "I get up, use the outdoor shower if there is water, shave at the BARNEY sink while fighting mosquitoes, therefore cutting myself as I fight the bugs and keep the blade going. I have a twix bar, yep a twix and it is made locally in Africa, so not that great and a glass of water, a multivitamin to keep up and then drive the 6 kms to work on a mud road and put my vehicle into 4x4 to get by. The road I travel on is marked by the various groups in control of the [View Full Entry]

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History Lesson: This is what I have learned from Galib & through my own research on the internet. There is the SPLA & the SPLM. (Collectively known as the SPLA/M) SPLA: Sudanese People Liberation Army. Previously referred to as "Rebels" & sometimes still are, but now they are the "armed" section of the SPLM. SPLA formed as a result of lack of infrastructure and resources and they fought for the betterment of the Sudanese people living in the south. SPLM: Sudanese People Liberation Movement, grew from the SPLA and is now a legitimate political movement in opposition of the Go [View Full Entry]

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Galib has been transferred to a village in the Blue Nile State called Ed Damazin, just 600 kms to the Sout East of Khartoum effective last weekend. The village borders Ethiopia. Rainy season starts next week until October, so he will be mosquitoing up to prevent any malaria. That entails taking pills to prevent malaria, 99 percent DEET and lots of netting. There was a rain storm last evening which consisted of "sideways" rain. So all of the rain came through the windows and soaked everything. About 1 inch in total. This made the phone lines inoperable as well as the [View Full Entry]

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Galib, along with an Australian Guide, kayaked the Nile River. Various websites report the following information on the Nile: The Nile river is the longest river in the world. It is 4,132 miles in length and 1,107,000 square-mile basin. The Nile river is made up of two rivers: the White Nile and the Blue Nile. The two rivers meet near the Sudanese capital Khartoum. The White Nile goes into the country through the Uganda border and meets the Blue Nile at a point near Khartoum and forms the Nile Proper. The Blue Nile rises in the Ethiopian plateau and flows across [View Full Entry]

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Galib sent this photo of the gym in Khartoum. Imagine working out in 45 degree heat on a rooftop, no cover from the blazing sun rays, but look again at the photo, it's not very busy there is it??? The Inukshuk is the offical emblem of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, CANADA. It is a stone landmark used as a milestone or directional marker by the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic. Inukshuk is a beacon. For travellers in Canada's North, an Inukshuk is a welcome sight. It says, "I've been here before; you're on the right path". To see a [View Full Entry]

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Galib certainly leads the life of adventure. He chooses the path less travelled. It has officially been 5 weeks since he left the fresh rain of Vancouver behind. I have kept myself occupied with wedding plans...though Galib & I planned mostly everything before he left. As a bride-to-be, I could have not have hoped for a more involved fiancé and the utmost supportive friends and family. I will be posting some photos that Galib sends my way for you to view. Some photos make it hard to believe that a place such as this exists and his emails will just make [View Full Entry]

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Galib spent a week in Italy in April. He feasted on great pasta & local vino. Galib completed a whirlwind tour of Roma in a few hours. Highlights: Vatican City is a sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome. At approximately 108.7 acres, it is the smallest independent nation in the world. The current Pope is His Holiness Benedict XVI. The Coliseum, an amphi-theatre inaugarated in A.D. 72 by Vespasian, the first of the Flavian emperors, dedicated by Titus A.D. 80. Bede wrote these well-known lines: Quandiu stabit coliseus, st [View Full Entry]

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Sand on the dunes slithers like smooth silk...until it gets in your eyeballs! Earlier, we studiously applied suncreen (SPF 30) from head to toe, only to discover later on that we would become human sheets of sandpaper. The previous days desert safaris had been cancelled due to sandstorms. The sand blows so strongly that trucks have difficulty navigating the roads...and nevermind the dunes. The sand shifts in the dunes so you cannot stop and admire the view. If you do...which we did... you must be extremely careful to pay attention to the dunes shifting. I was taking video and all of [View Full Entry]

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