Through NYC

Today, we are in Casablanca. Travelling from St. Louis, through NYC to fly out yesterday had its moments of possible disaster, but all is well. After my airline told me that my bike would probably not make it on the plane, I pleaded with every single baggage person and ticketing person I could find to get it on. After I bothered them soundly, they assured me it would make it on. In NYC, Jesse and I lugged our bikes around, but not too much thanks to the incredible help of Holly Parker. She makes life so easy, and I am incredibly fortunate to have her as my friend. Another incredible person we ran into in NYC was our friend Amy. She does so many good things for so many people, and she doesn't sweat it at all. She is bafflingly amazing. Thank you so much to you two for helping us move all around NYC with huge luggage. Parker, I'll see you in a week.

An early comparison

Two days ago, I was standing in a beautiful wood-paneled room on the campus of Washington University. Outside on the porch, with a free bar overlooking a huge green back lawn, an entire wedding population mingled over drinks. In my room, there was a jazz quartet. They were hired for the wedding, almost playing as "background music." The drummer was a friend of the groom, and while the groom was able to flash into that room, the drummer quickly started the groom's favorite tune. The groom couldn't stay long though; there was mingling to be done with everyone on the porch. This left me alone in a beautiful room with a jazz quartet all to my own. As I sipped my glass of clear, bubbly, iced wonder of a gin and tonic, the members of the quartet took their solos, and I gave praise after each one. At some point, I stared in my glass and thought about where I'd be in a week. I'd be in Kedougou, sweating through my shirt, sitting on the main road and watching people go by.
I was lucky. Americans, in general, are pretty lucky. Not every American ends up with a nice drink and a jazz quartet all to their own, but often we find ourselves in situations where we can just relax. Whether it's going our with a good friend or just sitting in a nice chair with a beer to watch a football game, we all have times to just sit back. We don't have to worry about things that the people in Kedougou worry about. These abrupt contrasts help me see the world as a whole. I don't dwell on it all the time (I'd be kind of a downer to be around), but with these world's so close together, it seems easy to take one thing and bring it to the next. When it seems so easy, that's just what you do. That's just what we do.

Instructions for Netlife's Interactive Map

While packing for the trip, studying for our last test and getting our last details worked out, we tried to set something up on Google Earth for an interactive map. Since Jesse and I are in charge of everything, this is the best we could do. The end result is actually quite cool, it just takes some extra clicking to set up the whole map with all the villages.

Start by downloading the Google Earth program at the following link:
http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html

After downloading the file, install it on your computer and make sure it opens up ok. You should see a window with the planet earth in space and be able to zoom in on the planet.

Keep Google Earth open and on your web browser check out the following link, which has a list of all the villages we will be visiting:
http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/dosearch.php?Cat=0&Forum=All_Forums&Name=1061375&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&&fromsearch=1&fromprof=1

Again, this page has a list of all the cities in villages we visit in Senegal from Dakar to Namel, then some more on a second page. After clicking on any of the village names, you will be brought to another page which asks you if you want to "View in Google Earth." Click this and the village will show up on your Google Earth interactive map. Each time you click on another villages "View in Google Earth" link, another village will show up on your interactive map. If you click on the pushpins of the villages, a short description comes up.

Note: When you close the Google Earth program, it will tell you that you have temporary files and will ask you if you want to save them as "My Places". We recommend you click yes, so that every time you look at your Google Earth map in the future, all of the villages you've clicked on will still be on the map. This is great, because each time you click on a new village, your map of the Netlife area becomes more and more complete. Give it a try. It's pretty cool.

Sample of our Google Earth map

| Maps of yore |

These maps were procured by Andy during his time in the peace corps. These are are appearently maps made by the french in the early 1980's. Not too useful without a magnifying glass, but cute nonetheless.













Now, here is a map that is a bit easier to understand. The region of Kedougou is made up of Saraya, Fungolimbi, Bandafassi and Salemata. The town of Kedougou is located right at the intersection of Saraya, Fungolimbi and Bandafassi.

| Getting Ready | Jesse

Andy and I are in our final stage of planning. In addition to getting ready for the trip, we have a "shelf" exam on Friday May 25th. We are currently finishing up our family practice rotation. It was nice to have Family Practice as our last rotation before leaving for Senegal, it provided lots of valuable information for the trip.

We have our malaria prophylaxis (Malarone for me, and Doxycycline for Andy), Andy has taken apart his bike and placed it snuggly in a box for the long journey. He is ahead of me in that category.

Yesterday we wired the funds to purchase 1,000 Long-term insecticide treated nets to our partners at against malaria. We may be able to get a hold of 500 more nets, but that is in the works.