Merhaba from Selçuk! I am waıtıng for the group at the hotel and am breakıng my no ınternet goal! Just wanted to say that all ıs well. The trıp has been great so far - we have been to the WWI battlefıelds at Galıpolı, the ruıns of Troy (complete wıth horse), and Ephesus was even better than I hoped! Amazıng what ıs left and almost ımpossıble to ımagıne ıt as ıt was. We had a free mornıng today so I was up early and off to the House of the Vırgın Mary (where she ıs saıd to have dıed, although she ıs not burıed here), the Cave of the Seven Sleepers, the Isma Bey mosque (buılt ın 1375), the Basılıca of St. John the Baptıst (where ıs ıs saıd to be burıed), and the Ephesus Museum. ... read more

Greetings from Rwanda! All is well here and I am fine. My work is going well and I am actually ahead of schedule. I’ve had some great meetings so far with another one scheduled for Friday afternoon. Friday evening there’s a dinner party at Jennifer’s house. There are five Americans visiting Rwanda at the moment so we’re having a get together. I’ll meet more co-workers from North Carolina that I haven’t yet met there here. My first day here, I gave three bags of candy to the receptionist. They are big fans of chocolate here and all US visitors bring different selections. Taking advantage of post-Halloween sales, I brought big bags of M&Ms, Hershey bars, and Snickers. Not long after I gave the candy to the receptionist, one of the house staff brought around a neatly ... read more

I have spent a month in Rwanda and have enjoyed the experience, although I’m now ready to go home. I have finished everything I needed to do for work, including a three hour training presentation this morning. My flight out is at 7:45pm this evening. I'm just wrapping a few things up here at the office and will then walk home, get some lunch, take a shower, finish packing, and head to the airport at 5:00pm. Just four flights later (three in business class so I can't really complain too much), I'll be back in NC! I’ve seen quite a bit of the country and enjoyed that, especially the safari in Akagera National Park. I wish I had seen the gorillas and I thought I had a permit for a day before finding out that what ... read more

On Friday afternoon I walked to Camp Kigali, the military school and barracks where 10 Belgian UN Peacekeepers were killed at the beginning of the genocide. Part of the base is now a memorial with 10 pillars arranged in a circle, one of each of the soldiers killed. Each pillar has notches in it representing the age of the soldier killed which ranged from 25-32. The school room where they took shelter and defended themselves for a few hours is still standing and marked with bullet and grenade damage. Inside the room where they ultimately died is a plaque with each of their names and a photo. People come and leave flowers in their memory. Brief history lesson: On April 6, 1994, the airplane carrying Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana, and Cyprien Ntaryamira, the Hutu president of ... read more

I am back from an amazing two day trip to Akagera National Park in eastern Rwanda! Brief history of the park: The park was created in 1934 by the Belgians as a nature reserve and was originally 2,500 square kilometers in size. The park borders Tanzania to the east with the Akagera River the natural boundary. During the 1994 civil war in Rwanda, many people fled to Tanzania and as they started to return, they were resettled on park land so that only 1,085 km2 now remain in the park. Akagera is similar in landscape to the famous savannahs of Kenya and Tanzania and there is plenty of wildlife to be seen. Six giraffes and 26 elephants were brought in and have done well - there are now 80 giraffes and over 100 elephants! My tour ... read more