Westward.....

I leave DC on Sunday morning and I'm counting the hours at this point! I head to Tucson for a week of sun and fun and then my dad and I are going to load up my wee truck and head north through California to Portland, Oregon. Roadtrip!! In the meantime I've been going full tilt at work trying to wrap up my project and finish the transition with all our partners in Ethiopia and Namiba. Not easy. My colleagues have been incredibly supportive and understanding. It will be so nice to finally have a decent sized apartment (or small bungalow!), my own furniture, and above all my books and artifacts from my travels in one place! Everyone I've spoken to so far has had nothing but good things to say about Portland and Oregon in general (okay, aside from the rain!). I just wish my wee African beast was still around to come with me. I think the next animal I get will be a nice medium-sized dog like I used to have, but that's a few years down the line!

As for future travel plans, right now I have to focus on finishing my dissertation but I may do some training work in Nicaragua and Honduras later this year, and as a carrot for finishing my dissertation I plan to head back to Namibia in October with a friend of mine to explore the country (one of my favorites so far with its stark beauty) and enjoy it (along with some Windhoek Lager and a decent braai!)without the weight of a project hanging over me!