What's shakin' with D+J...

Hey there everyone... Long time, no update, we know. Things have been a little slow and easy around here. This is what we have been doing the past three or so weeks...

(1) Toulouse
We were in Toulouse, France for one week. We planned on leaving on the 10am train on Monday, but like all good plans... We ended up having to take the night train to get in Tuesday morning -- really early and a bit cranky (more me than D!). Dustin headed straight to the ICASSP conference, and I went to bed. I was on antibiotics still with my Lyme Disease (which has thankfully kicked the bucket!), and they really drained me.

So, other than sleeping in the morning and afternoon, I hung out with Dustin and his buddies at some GREAT meals. I mean really good - surprisingly good. I usually hate French food, but in Toulouse it happened to be great.

Dustin presented a paper in poster format on Friday. He was amazing, per usual! It was pretty neat to get to see Dustin in action, doing his work in style.

(2) Aachen
We have gone out a few times with friends... But we have basically been just resting, working (Dustin), and packing/prepping (me).

(3) Paris
For those of you I have not told, I really despise Paris. I know, I know, how could one hate PARIS? The city of light, right? Of love, romance, and croissants? Well, I do... And have for a while... I have tried to like it every time I have been there, but my experiences there turn out badly. However, I am still willing to like it -- maybe someone who likes the city can show me its good graces?

Anyway, I had to make the three hour train trek to Paris to get our Togo visas. I called the Togo embassy in the states to check about this, and they said it would be entirely easy and take only an hour or two. Dustin and I searched and searched, but there was no finding the Togo Embassy in France's website. So, relying on the Dept of State website and the info from the US Togo embassy, I departed. Ready and willing to be in Paris for ONE day, but no more!

So, the long and the short of it was that I was wrong.

I got to the embassy with no problem. Once I was there however, one thing led to another... ending up with me meeting the Togo Ambassador to France. Unbelievable. I waited at the embassy for four hours in a strange lobby, met the Ambassador, and went home empty-handed. It was stressful and less than fun. But, I figured, this is good prep for Africa -- I am going to be on "Africa time."

So, five days later, with receipt for our passports in hand, I arrived BACK IN PARIS to finish the task. Apparently, I got there at the wrong time... So I sat and waited again. This time, rather than having to wait three more hours (as I was told by the embassy folks upon my second arrival), I got the visas in 10 minutes time. Weird.

Relieved to be done with my task, I went back to the train station ASAP to get on the next train outta Paris. But no, I could not get on the next train -- I had to wait three hours to get on a different train. I was willing to stand, sit in the "in-between" space of the cars -- anything to get out of the city. But rules, I guess, are important to those French people.

So, the waiting commenced. I headed to a cafe, thinking that if I could only get some food and find a bathroom, things would feel much better. Lo and behold, I went to the cafe toilet, and there was a squat toilet with no doors for both sexes. This is something that I can expect and be happy about in a place like Uganda, but Paris? Apparently the French are quite the fans of the squat toilet, but I am yet to be converted...

After waiting for the next train, I got back to Aachen. That evening was full of moving to a new place -- more dorm-room style than our old place.

Again - I am willing to be convinced of Paris and its great stuff... I think I just need to go with someone who really likes the city!!

(4) Up next...
Dustin is working through evals, oh joy of all joys. He is doing good work - but it sure does take a chunk of time. As many of you already know, Dustin received a fellowship from MIT!!! We had thought that if he received it, he would need to be in Boston. But, it is basically just some cash for him to be paid so that he can focus solely (we think) on his dissertation. So, that is pretty much awesome. We stay in Seattle, he focuses on his research, and all things are good in the world.

I am heading to Africa tomorrow! Unbelievable that my time here has passed so quickly. I will be emailing as I am able... But my tentative plan looks something like this (tentative because it is determined in large part on Dut's citizenship status - complicated and long story)...
(1) June 7 - 12: Travel plan = Aachen --> Amsterdam --> Nairobi, Kenya --> Kampala, Uganda --> Jinja, Uganda. In Jinja, I meet up with Dut's sister, Ayuen and chill.
(2) June 13 - 17: Go to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in W. Uganda. I got one of 16 gorilla trekking permits for the country, so I will be doing that for one of the days. Other days are consumed by travel, hikes, and seeing the sites.
(3) June 18 - ??: I will be doing one of the following...
- volunteering with Soft Power Education, a non-profit refurbishing and building schools in Jinja,
- volunteering with an organization in Kenya (I have a few contacts, so we will see if the Jinja one does not work out),
- heading to Sudan (if Dut can get his citizenship and into Uganda by July 1), or
- heading early to Togo to spend additional time with Cate and Wayne (Dustin's folks).

So! There you have it. I will be sending updates to Dustin as I am able... Please keep the emails and conversations coming!