Hi Everyone,
I am finally back home in good old DC area and getting re-acclimated with everything. Even though I had an amazing journey, there is nothing like home!
I got back from Chicago (had to take training) on July 16th. Looking to start my next project at USPS next week July 23rd.
Stay tuned for more pictures from my last trip before coming back, holiday in France.
Saturday, 21 July 2007
Monday, 18 June 2007
London is the Worlds Second Most Expensive City!
In other words, avoid these cities if you're not doing so well in the money department.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/06/15/pf/most_expensive_cities/index.htm
World's most expensive cities 2007
1. Moscow
2. London
3. Seoul
4. Tokyo
5. Hong Kong
6. Copenhagen
7. Geneva
8. Osaka
9. Zurich
10. Oslo
11. Milan
12. St. Petersburg
13. Paris
14. Singapore
15. New York City
16. Dublin
17. Tel Aviv
18. Rome
19. Vienna
20. Beijing
http://money.cnn.com/2007/06/15/pf/most_expensive_cities/index.htm
World's most expensive cities 2007
1. Moscow
2. London
3. Seoul
4. Tokyo
5. Hong Kong
6. Copenhagen
7. Geneva
8. Osaka
9. Zurich
10. Oslo
11. Milan
12. St. Petersburg
13. Paris
14. Singapore
15. New York City
16. Dublin
17. Tel Aviv
18. Rome
19. Vienna
20. Beijing
Wednesday, 16 May 2007
Houmans bunch...
"Urban" village we visited in Senegal - The kids were absolutely amazing. I am so glad we had a chance to take the one hour journey out and visit these youngsters in their school.
This school is literally in the middle of nowhere, yet thanks to Plan (the people I work for), they had four computers with internet connections! Believe it or not, these kids had email addresses and they weren't shy about wanting us to take pictures and email it to them!
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...
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This school is literally in the middle of nowhere, yet thanks to Plan (the people I work for), they had four computers with internet connections! Believe it or not, these kids had email addresses and they weren't shy about wanting us to take pictures and email it to them!
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...
Monday, 7 May 2007
Cornish Cream Tea anyone?
What do you get when you mix one part breathtaking scenery, one part old country, and two parts good ol country hospitality?
Drumroll, ... wait...wait...wait... now.... you get Cornwall.
However, I am not supposed to talk about Cornwall, so please do not let out this little secret.
My hosts father would be very upset at me if he found out that I have told others of this most beautiful, most westerly, old English - excuse me, Cornish country side. You see, he told me, "don't you go telling everyone about cornwall, we don't want our towns pouring with tourists." Yes, this is the sad reality of tourism. On one hand, it would be a shame to keep such a beautiful place a secret, on the other hand, tourism really does take away from the charm of it all. I mean, who wants to see a mcdonalds and subway in every corner of the town? Furthermore, chicken tikka masala at mcdonalds? Wow, thats another topic all by itself.
Cornish Cream Tea -
Black tea with milk and sugar, served with scones or other pastries topped with Cornish clotted cream (real heavy cream, almost like butter.) Add on a delicious home cooked pasty (pronounced - "pass tea") stuffed with meat and potatoes for lunch and you can call yourself cornish.
Lands End - "The first and lase house" is literally that. This would be the last house you would see (west most) leaving England and the first house you would see entering England from the west coast.
Drumroll, ... wait...wait...wait... now.... you get Cornwall.
However, I am not supposed to talk about Cornwall, so please do not let out this little secret.
My hosts father would be very upset at me if he found out that I have told others of this most beautiful, most westerly, old English - excuse me, Cornish country side. You see, he told me, "don't you go telling everyone about cornwall, we don't want our towns pouring with tourists." Yes, this is the sad reality of tourism. On one hand, it would be a shame to keep such a beautiful place a secret, on the other hand, tourism really does take away from the charm of it all. I mean, who wants to see a mcdonalds and subway in every corner of the town? Furthermore, chicken tikka masala at mcdonalds? Wow, thats another topic all by itself.
Cornish Cream Tea -
Black tea with milk and sugar, served with scones or other pastries topped with Cornish clotted cream (real heavy cream, almost like butter.) Add on a delicious home cooked pasty (pronounced - "pass tea") stuffed with meat and potatoes for lunch and you can call yourself cornish.
Lands End - "The first and lase house" is literally that. This would be the last house you would see (west most) leaving England and the first house you would see entering England from the west coast.
Anyone feel like flying?
Sometimes it's good to be a bird...
Sometimes it's good to be a bird...
Minack Theater... This is a greek style theater carved in the edge of the mountain overlooking the coast! http://www.minack.com/
Stone circle - "Boscawen-Un" : There are many stone circles dating back thousands of years all over England!
Africerrrrr And...
Yes, the British (and Aussies) like to add a rolling "rrrrr" to the end of nouns such as places and countries.
Anyhow, on to the real meat and bones of my journey with Plan (work) to Dakar, Senegal.
Dakar is the capital of Senegal, a primarily french speaking nation nestled on the west most corner of Africa.
Arrived:
We arrived safely to the main airport in Dakar. We were told to be careful about hagglers who want to make a quick buck (or West African Franc.) As soon as we exited the airport, we were bombarded by cabies and beggars wanting some change. Luckily, we had pre-arranged a cab to take us to the hotel. We walked across uncharted territory with the cabi to the "parking lot" to pick up his car and head to the hotel.
Impression of Senegal:
Take a look at the pictures. Should be generally self explanatory. Feels like you warp back in time. Imagine construction sites with donkeys to load the bricks, 30 year old cars that are barely glued together to withstand a cab ride, and mix to that the beauty of the simplicity of it all...
Agriculture:
Dakar does not generally produce much in house. In fact, almost all of the food is imported from neighboring countries or elsewhere. This is primarily due to the land and location. The main crop is peanuts; they are definitely delicious!
Senegal is very expensive compared to the rest of Africa as taxes on goods are sky high. Prices there are comparable to that of Europe or the States but people earn next to nothing as compared to our standards!!!
Gambia and Senegal:
It's unfortunate that under European rule, the region has been divided into two countries based mainly on English vs. French rule. It kind of looks like Pacman!
Goree Island:
This place is absolutely amazing and sad all at the same time. This was one of the main ports used during slavery to ship slaves from West Africa over to America. The Slave House where thousands entered the "door of no return" is situated on this island. I have included pictures here. It is incredibly sad and strange feeling to enter the "museum" and gaze at the door leading to the dock. Nelson Mandela once hid under the staircase where slaves were imprisoned, only to be found an hour later, in disarray with tears running down his face. I had the honor of taking a picture with the House Keeper who has preserved the house throughout most of the last century. He has shook hands with many presidents, and dignitaries who have come through to see with their own eyes what cruelty humans are capable of unleashing.
Anyhow, on to the real meat and bones of my journey with Plan (work) to Dakar, Senegal.
Dakar is the capital of Senegal, a primarily french speaking nation nestled on the west most corner of Africa.
Arrived:
We arrived safely to the main airport in Dakar. We were told to be careful about hagglers who want to make a quick buck (or West African Franc.) As soon as we exited the airport, we were bombarded by cabies and beggars wanting some change. Luckily, we had pre-arranged a cab to take us to the hotel. We walked across uncharted territory with the cabi to the "parking lot" to pick up his car and head to the hotel.
Impression of Senegal:
Take a look at the pictures. Should be generally self explanatory. Feels like you warp back in time. Imagine construction sites with donkeys to load the bricks, 30 year old cars that are barely glued together to withstand a cab ride, and mix to that the beauty of the simplicity of it all...
Agriculture:
Dakar does not generally produce much in house. In fact, almost all of the food is imported from neighboring countries or elsewhere. This is primarily due to the land and location. The main crop is peanuts; they are definitely delicious!
Senegal is very expensive compared to the rest of Africa as taxes on goods are sky high. Prices there are comparable to that of Europe or the States but people earn next to nothing as compared to our standards!!!
Gambia and Senegal:
It's unfortunate that under European rule, the region has been divided into two countries based mainly on English vs. French rule. It kind of looks like Pacman!
Goree Island:
This place is absolutely amazing and sad all at the same time. This was one of the main ports used during slavery to ship slaves from West Africa over to America. The Slave House where thousands entered the "door of no return" is situated on this island. I have included pictures here. It is incredibly sad and strange feeling to enter the "museum" and gaze at the door leading to the dock. Nelson Mandela once hid under the staircase where slaves were imprisoned, only to be found an hour later, in disarray with tears running down his face. I had the honor of taking a picture with the House Keeper who has preserved the house throughout most of the last century. He has shook hands with many presidents, and dignitaries who have come through to see with their own eyes what cruelty humans are capable of unleashing.
SMOKING KILLS
Sign at the entrance/exit !!!
The Island itself is beautiful...
Our Plan group photo ...
Departure:
We had a nice early flight scheduled for 3am on Thursday night/Friday morning. As if that wasn't bad enough, we showed up at the airport at 12:30am only to wait in line like zombies. They had not even opened up the check in counter. Time went by, we grew more restless, more waiting, it was at about 2am that we found out that the plane we were supposed to be on had a "technical problem." By technical problem, what I mean is that the engine had decided to make breakfast out of a bird and apparently couldn't recover. Whats worst is that the friendly staff at British Airways (Sarcasm anyone?) had not made any general announcements nore did they really make an effort to resolve the issue or at least inform us of options. They finally decided to tell us that the plane was either going to be fixed the next day (when, we don't know), or we had to wait until Sunday. Simple question, do these people have another plane anywhere? Or even better, could they have booked us on another flight? Well, that would be too easy wouldn't it? Instead, we proceeded to leave our tickets behind and book with another airline for a 6:30am flight connecting at Casablanca. It would have been a horrible nightmare, had I actually slept.
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