writing travel

Mid-America road trips for wimps, part 2

First of all, dear reader, I want you to know I am home again safely after spending more than two weeks with my extended family in southern Illinois.

I had intended to stay a week or less, just long enough to recover from the solo drive south and make the rounds to see as many cousins as possible.

And yes, I intended to blog from the road, but I'm a wimp. Besides that, real life happened.

Join the beta test of Wazzamba and compete for a Paris getaway

I don't ordinarily post unedited press releases, but this one seems worthy of attention.

And who knew there was a real place called Zug in Switzerland?

WAZZAMBA TO AWARD VALENTINE GETAWAY
Virtual World Players Can Win Real-World Romantic Vacation in Paris

Zug, Switzerland – February 8, 2010 – Wazzamba (www.wazzamba.com), the first online virtual world to give away real-world travel prizes, has announced a contest for a romantic trip for two to Paris in celebration of Valentine’s Day.  Potential players can log on to www.wazzamba.com and try for the highest daily score anytime during the week of February 8 in order to win the Paris GetAway.

Sandra Basgall: Settling into my Kinshasa bungalow

  

Guest post by Sandra Basgall, Catholic Relief Services Central Africa

I may never return to the United States as my new furnished bungalow in Kinshasa is so nice. I am in a compound with about ten other bungalows and a good sized swimming pool. My bungalow is separated from the others with nice plantings and grass, and it feels quite private. There is a heavy gate with two guards that make sure the residents are safe. 

I have three bedrooms and three bathrooms. Now don’t get too excited, the small bath is just as you enter the house and for guests. The middle is for the two smaller bathrooms and has a nice shower. And the master bath has all the comforts of home as well as a nice tub! There are lovely built in drawers, shelves, and closets in the two small bedrooms and a large set in the hallway going into the master bedroom suite. What more could a girl ask for? And there is plenty of room for guests. 

Sandra Basgall: Settling into Kinshasa

Kinshasa street scene, originally uploaded by Irene2005.

Guest post by Sandra Basgall, Catholic Relief Services for Central Africa

I have been here a week now. I went from 16 hours plane sitting to 3 days of regional meeting sitting and so was really glad when the weekend came. One of the last tips I received before I left the States was to see if anywhere they served a fish called capitaine. This was someone who had eaten it 40 years ago as a Peace Corps volunteer in Togo and still remembered it with fondness. Imagine my surprise at the Thursday evening dinner during the regional meetings that the restaurant served capitaine. I, of course, ordered it. It was cooked in a banana leaf pouch with a lovely sauce and it was truly wonderful. I will have it again, many times.

At CRS CARO (Central African Regional Office), most of the major management positions are held by women. I think it sets a very interesting flavor and there seems to be a lot of collaboration and support. The regional director is an African-American woman who was three years in the Peace Corps in the Gabon and is married to a Senegalese. She has been RD for the last five years. Although we service seven other countries, the DRC is the largest in terms of program dollars, and they have the largest country program, also directed by a woman, an American. There is a real hodgepodge of other nationalities here, and it is interesting to learn where long-term Congolese CRS people have served.

Wednesday Window ~ Blackberry sur La Seine, Paris