Life from abroad

Hello Everyone,

First, the big news.  I passed the Foreign Service oral exam.  Studying for the test has been the reason for my absence this last month and now that I am done, the blog will restart this weekend with Christmas in Europe.

This test was the last hurdle before being accepted as a candidate for the US State Department.  With a decent score in the Economic Cone, I could be hired as soon as I clear security and health.  Unfortunately, both of these could take as long as a year and up to 18 months after that to get an offer.  So there is potentially a long time to wait still.

During this wait though, Rasa and I are still planning on going to Mongolia and China this June.  We had to nix the Central Asia Rally because it was looking too difficult with all the recent life changes.  After Asia, we will ship out to Morocco with the Peace Corps in October and remain there waiting for my Foreign Service position to come thorough.

Some website updates to note:

Our African Adventure book is finished.  Take a look at it on our books page.  The next one to watch for is How the Environment Shapes the African Dinner Table.

The other event is that our African Overland Route map is finished.  If you want to check it out, click here.  If you wanted to download a Google Earth file, click here.

That is all for now.

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This is actually the second time we were in Marrakech, the first being after we came out of the mountains, but I felt it was the perfect post to end our extraordinary journey.  Spending four days here it was nice to finally be back in a major city with all its cosmopolitan energy.

The buzz, glow and smoke from the Djemaa el-Fna square food stands.

Lost in the maze of alleyways beyond the square it is easy to find just the color plate you need.

The famous snake charmers of Marrakech.  When taking pictures here we are repeatedly asked for tips but this guy wanted $50.  I will give you one guess what my blunt two-word reply was.

I must have spent at least five minutes watching this poor old man trying to close the door.  I half expected him to brace his foot against the wall.

The elaborate entryway at the Musée de Marrakech.

Saying our goodbyes to David, Peta and Priscilla.  That huge map almost fits our entire journey on it.

Here is Priscilla being loaded into her container to be shipped from the UK back to South Africa.

This will be the last post for Africa but you still have a whole year’s worth of pictures to look forward to.  Some of those highlights will be Baltic Europe, California, Fiji, New Zealand and of course Australia.

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