Countdown: 1 Month!
Forgive me for not posting in quite a while - I've been paying too much attention to the World Cup and not much has happened regarding information about the Peace Corps. That is, other than one BIG thing. Apparently, Michele and I sent our passports to the wrong place - instead of sending them to the US Passport Agency like we did, we were supposed to mail them to our Peace Corps office directly and let them mail the passports to the US Passport Agency. At this moment, all we can do is wait and see. There shouldn't be any further problems at this point other than trying to buy all the right supplies we'll need in Mali.
Here are a few of the things Michele and I have bought in preparation:
-iPods: the key here is weight and size. The second I saw that iPod has a camera connector accessory, I realized this 5.5 ounce device can completely replace my 5.5 pound laptop computer. Because we're each only allowed 80 pounds in our luggage, every pound of extra fluff we can shed gives much relief, especially since we want to take as many books with us as possible. I also bought a solar panel charger that can be used with my camera battery and our iPods. It's pretty sleek and is bound to be useful since the only thing Mali has in abundance is sunlight.
-French books: last night we both bought pocket French dictionaries. Since all of our searches for English - Bambaran language dictionaries have ended in failure, we can at least try to learn French. I also managed to find a free French - English dictionary online for my iPod, so that will help too. Now I just need to download the Bambaran lessons that the Peace Corps has posted online for us.
There are still some important things we still need to buy, however:
Shoes: yeah. I'm going to need a pair of sandals and tennis shoes (since the pairs I have right now are not capable of lasting another 2 months let alone 2 years in Africa. And a pair of boots would be nice too, just in case.
Tools: I'm excited about getting to pick out a multi-purpose Victorinox or Leatherman tool/knife. You never know when these things will come in handy since they are always handy. Also, a compass (com-pass for you, Michele). It's the difference between knowing what direction you're going and assuming - literally.
Other news:
This is my last full week of work! Hooray!! Granted, this statement is a little misleading - I still have 3 weeks of work; next week is a 3 day week and the week after is a 4 day week. But after that, I'm done! Goodbye, Atlanta traffic.
In World Cup news:
2 of my 5 teams made it into the 2nd round: France and Ghana.
Here is how everyone faired in their matches:
USA - Well, I really can't say anything other than we didn't live up to the expectations. We just didn't play like a world cup team. Very disappointing. Lost to the Czechs, tied the Italians, and lost to Ghana.
France - First 2 games, the French played like the US - as in, they didn't. But they at least came away with 2 tied games. They woke up, however, in game 3 vs. Togo and showed that they can play like they're on fire, just like the old days. They advanced to round 2 and play Spain tomorrow. Spain has an amazing team this year, and most doubt the French can do it, but I'll be rooting for them anyways.
Ghana - Amazing. They've defied all expectations. Opening loss to Italy, sad, but then clear victories over the Czechs and Americans. They are the first African team to advance to the second round, ever, which has no doubt excited many of the people in West Africa at the moment. They play Brazil tomorrow which doesn't bode well for them. Brazil is one of the best teams around at the moment, but then again, no one gave Ghana a chance vs. the Czechs and US either. Go Ghana!
Cote D'Ivoire - They played with heart, and each one of their games were very close. Two losses and then a win against Serbia and Montenegro made it so that Cote D'Ivoire could leave the tournament on a high note.
Togo - They played tough and put up a good fight each game, but just weren't able to do that well. All 3 of their games were losses.
6 comments:
Tell me more about this solar panel charger. I want to get an iPod too but I was worried about how I was going to charge it.
Go here to check out the website: http://www.solio.com .
Even though I haven't had the chance to try it out, I have the feeling I'm going to love it. It was roughly $100 and fits in the palm of your hand. It fans out to expose 3 small solar panels and can be used to charge iPods, digital cameras, and any other small devices assuming you have the correct wires (which the website sells also).
The nice thing: The Solio holds its charge. You don't need to leave your iPod outside with it in the sun. You just leave the Solio to charge all day while you're at work, then when you get back at night, plug your iPod in and it will recharge the batteries.
Apple.com used to sell this solar charger but discontinued it for some reason. I don't know why, all the reviews I could find thought it was great - so now the cheapest I've found it (other than eBay) is direct from the Solio website. Hope this info helps some.
Even though we didn't perform as we should have in the world cup, who cares? Anyone that has the nerve to poke fun at us will quickly be invaded! ;)
Good point, I wonder how our foreign policy would change if we lost to Iran or even Mexico...
I don't mind that the US didn't get into the second round, but we didn't even get a win in a tournament we were supposedly ranked 5th in the world beforehand. Plus, we're supposed to have the best coach the US has ever had, one of the best in the world.
I've enjoyed reading your blog. You got a website for the ipod french/english dictionary?
Have you recieved you staging packet yet (I haven't)?
Here is the website for the English/French dictionary for the iPod:
http://www.coolgorilla.com/free-ipod-software-languages.html
It only offers English to French translations and not the other way around, but it does pronounce words for you which is more than most dictionaries do.
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