Countdown: 21 days!!

It is now exactly 3 weeks before Michele and I leave for Mali. It is a bit nerve-racking because it is only 19 days until we leave for staging in Philly and we still have not received our staging packets from the Peace Corps (supposedly to be delivered 3 to 5 weeks before staging). Hopefully all is good and everything is on its way.



This puppy (pictured) is the kind of fish we'll be eating when we are near the Niger River running through the center of Mali. The capitaine or in English the Nile Perch, is one big motha... Thank God these things don't eat flesh or you'd never get me to go near the river.

My first thought when seeing this photo was - yeah right! This has got to be some freak one-in-a-million fish that got lots of pictures taken since it was so abnormally large. If you check Google images, however, you find out in the first 12 pages of pictures that this size capitaine is caught quite a bit. If I go fishing in Mali (which will be my first) I could quite possibly hook something the size of me and then be pulled into the river and swallowed whole a la Jonah style. For Michele's sake, I hope this doesn't happen while she's watching since I won't want her last moment with me to be quite so comic.


But anyways, this is my first day back at work after spending the holiday weekend with my parents and family in Florida. This vacation is guarranteed to be the best food Michele and I eat before running off to Africa - shrimp, fajitas, ribs, steak, fresh amberjack, homemade pizza, all delicious. Sadly, Michele and I never got a chance to stop by McGuire's Irish Pub in Destin, our tradition and the best place to eat in Northwest Florida.

I did get to see my brother, his wife and two beautiful daughters Payton and Jameson for the first time in years (except Jameson - the first time ever) which was really nice. I got to play the role of the all-powerful Bear in the Bear vs. Lion escapades in the pool with Payton which was both a great workout and a lot of fun. All of my bear fur was singed off my body every time the lion spit hot lava all over me.
It was fairly sureal knowing that this was the last time seeing my older sister and older brother and his family until I return from Mali (if I am not able to return to the States or they can't visit us in Africa). I hope I'll be able to see my sister in Egypt or someplace like that as I am dying to go.

After today, only six more days of work and then I'm off to Florida again and Michele is off to her parents' to pack everything up in preparation for Mali. Everything is coming at us so fast it seems. It really is starting to get exciting/nerve-racking.


In other more World Cuppy type of news,
the French beat the Brazilians! Woohoo! Michele and I were able to catch the second half on TV after a day on the boat in Florida and it was impressive how the French were able to control the ball and keep the Brazilians from shooting most of the game.
Now, after an insane German v. Italy semi-final yesterday (Italy won), the France v. Portugal semi-final starts in a few minutes. If France pulls this off, then they play Italy for the Cup (which will be more difficult than I would have imagined before Italy beat up powerful Germany yesterday scoring 2 goals in the last 2 minutes of the game). Go France! They beat Portugal twice in the UEFA European Championship.


I'll be cheering for my boy Zinedine Zidane of France - I've followed him on and off since I was in high school and this is his final year - after this tournament, he is retiring. It would be awesome if a footballer of his calliber can go out with a World Cup victory. Thank God the World Cup final is on a Sunday so I can watch it on TV rather than relying on XM radio.