Dagmar, I've been to Kenya but not officially on a "safari". I was doing a service/work/learning related to public health and sociology. Spent a lot of hours in clinics and hospitals. But I definitely would love to go back - it was such an amazing experience. I didn't get to see any of the big animals (ie, elephants), but I went to Nairobi National park and a private piece of land where I saw giraffes, water buffalo, and other interesting wildlife.
Allison, I hope the Portugal/Spain trip works out. I'd love to go there, and Morocco. My family is from Germany so I have been there and to a few surrounding countries. I actually found the train really easy to navigate, but it's much easier to do when you're there in person and I understand the desire to have things booked and solidified before arrival.
Sznn, congrats on your 10k! I'd go with the chip time - I think they measure precisely when you cross the start and finish lines. I did a half marathon with a chip and I think it took me a minute or two to officially cross the start since I was in the back of the pack.
Jessica, I'll keep my fingers crossed for your DH as well.
Michele, when you do have the time I'd love to hear about living in south Africa! I definitely understand about the master's program stress on top of having a life, though.
Busy Busy day here for me. One of the classes I TA has their midterm this afternoon so I've been bombarded with questions and students panicking last-minute. Sadly I think the ones asking the questions are the ones who need the least help - they really already know what they are doing. Those who haven't done well on homework assignments don't come to office hours or review sessions, either.
No African safari for me, sad to say. Too much disease, too much civil war... I would have no rights, the laws are unenforceable... I would be an easy target.
Plus it's dangerous to be around those wild animals. A woman from my grad school and her 1-yr-old daughter were killed by an elephant while in Kenya (I think) last year.
I know I was saying in another thread that when I was young we camped in the West, but we didn't go wilderness camping. Back then, people who lived in the West usually knew it was dangerous out there.
Dagmar - I've taken a two week safari in Tanzania - a remarkable trip that I'd recommend to anyone. We saw several game preserves, lions and elephants VERY close, and birds and plants galore.
We pitched our own tents; slept on mats on the ground. The crew cooked the meals - amazingly large veggies there and wonderful mangoes.
First night out we heard a male lion roar to break the quiet; never heard such a low pitch roar in my life. Gave a real feeling of where we were.
It's a great item to have on your Bucket List. I recommend you try to get there as soon as you can - Africa is changing, like everywhere, and the wild game is dwindling.
Dagmar - I've taken a two week safari in Tanzania - a remarkable trip that I'd recommend to anyone. We saw several game preserves, lions and elephants VERY close, and birds and plants galore.
We pitched our own tents; slept on mats on the ground. The crew cooked the meals - amazingly large veggies there and wonderful mangoes.
First night out we heard a male lion roar to break the quiet; never heard such a low pitch roar in my life. Gave a real feeling of where we were.
It's a great item to have on your Bucket List. I recommend you try to get there as soon as you can - Africa is changing, like everywhere, and the wild game is dwindling.
The 2 week safari is what I'm looking at for my trip - 15 days split between Kenya and Tanzania. I have a moral issue I'm wrestling with that you touched on - the safaris arguably are eroding the ecosystem while bringing much needed tourist cash to those countries.
While I am amazed by the animals I see on TV in the Serengeti do I want to be part of it's eventual destruction?
But I suppose we all are contributing to the eventual destruction of the planet by driving cars, eating beef, using plastic, etc.
Experience of a lifetime though. I am as yet undecided.
Hope everyone is having a good week! I have been getting totally beaten down, so haven't been around much.
Allison - cool on the show! Annoying about your MIL's cat.
Sznn - take the chip time! It is typically very accurate.
Jessica - glad DH's lungs are better. Hope his half goes well.
Dagmar - my aunt and uncle did a safari in Africa and loved it. I personally wouldn't be able to do one, same ethical reasons already mentioned.
Bill - little kids are amazing, aren't they? My stepson can bend himself into positions I can't get close to, and doesn't have an ounce of fat on him. Fantastic.
Jay - about the woman and child being killed by an elephant.
Dagmar, if you do some searching you can probably find an eco-safari. There is a growing eco-tourism industry in which you get to see all of the things you want to see, but in an environmentally friendly way (and potentially with part of the money you pay going to conservation nonprofits).
DH's big day is tomorrow. I'm excited! I feel bad though because I had a minor work-related meltdown in the middle of the night and woke him up at 2am because I was upset. Got back to sleep around 3:30 or so feeling much better, but I belatedly realized that he really needed the sleep right before his race and I shouldn't have woken him up to calm me down. Oh well. Tomorrow morning we will have to be up majorly early since we have to be parked at the race site by no later than 7:30. We'll probably leave home around 6.
I got an email today from the Team in Training folks with a listing of the races they've got for the upcoming summer session. Still debating about whether to try to train on my own or whether I should do team in training. I am firmly decided at this point that I want to train for an Olympic triathlon next year. The TNT one is the Elkhart Lake triathlon in Wisconsin in June (they're also doing a half-ironman, but that is way beyond what I want to get into at this point).
I will be having dim sum (with someone to guide me through what the individual things are) for the first time ever tomorrow.
Any suggestions on what to eat/avoid re high calories?
I booked DH and I on a walk through one of our local "chinatowns" with a canadian/asian guide. We will be visiting a tea shop and a supermarket before the dim sum.
The walk (2 hours) will offset whatever we sample and the dim sum will count as lunch.
I plan to take an asian cooking course next spring. I wanted a head start on identifying and cooking all those interesting things I see out on the sidewalks whenever we go to "chinatown".
Hey all! Thought I'd check in as I haven't been on 3FC in forever. Still maintaining at around 150. My body seems to like it here. I can overeat a little and it stays around 150 or undereat a little and it stays around 150... at 5'10" that's right in the middle of my healthy weight range, so I could probably fight my body and lose more but I have absolutely no motivation to lose any more weight. Haha. At least I've maintained though, since the beginning of January. Did start to gain a little back in August (about 5 pounds) but I managed to lose it and am back in maintenance mode again.
Having a 32" waist *can* be disheartening when you're into Japanese fashions though. I wear a medium in the US but an XXL there and a lot of times they don't have things in that size! >_< Makes me feel fat even though I'm at a healthy weight.
Anyway, sorry for the rant. Just wanted to check in. Now I'll read the rest of the updates and try to catch up on how y'all are doing!
about the woman and child being killed by an elephant.
you go girl!!! 
Dim sum?
tomorrow.
and cooking all those interesting things I see out on the sidewalks whenever we go to "chinatown". 
