ho boy

Is there such a thing as a "Ho Boy"? Probably. Anyways, what I meant to say was more like, "oh geez, here we go again".
I left Seattle yesterday, washed down the jetway in a flood of tears and hand-wringing. The flight from Copenhagen to Paris was one of those great ones where you sit down, buckle up, close your eyes and don't wake till the thump of the landing.
And here we are in the city of lights and it's just beautiful.
I had a wonderful time back in the NW, and I'll have to tell you about that in a bit. For now though, I'll just introduce you to the idea of the next chapter in the life of Marty:
I'll be here in Paris for a few days or maybe a week. There's a bit of fuzziness in the plans, as I had intended to go down to Grenoble to visit a friend, then to Geneva since it's close to Grenoble. As it turns out the friend from Grenoble is coming to Paris tomorrow, so I feel less of a need to go there, which means I won't be as close to Geneva. I may instead be just flying straight out of Paris for Morocco. Of course, Grenoble, Geneva and all the places in between are, I'm sure, worthy of visits, but I've got Africa on the brain and am anxious to get there.
The plan for Africa is to start in Morocco and head south down the western coast, with trips to inland Mauritania, Mali and other spots along the way. I'm hoping to get an understand of the transition from Arab to Black Africa, in both rural and urban settings. I'm also hoping to develop more clearly this idea of "how" I want to live. I'd like to make it as far as the DRC and maybe CAF as well. On May 15th I'll be returning from... wherever I am at that point to Paris. I've somehow convinced Humanity in Action to allow me to be the intern for their summer program here, and I'm really looking forward to that. I like this city, I like the issues being discussed and there are dear friends for me here. What more could I ask for, besides some hand-crafted Northwest micro-brews?
I'll likely be heading back to the Northwest in mid-late July and from there...
It's an exciting time. But as always I feel a bit anxious and kind of more tired than usual. Maybe this detox tea will help.
Sorry for the lack of pictures lately. I'm having trouble with my computer. Also, I won't be taking the Mac(daddy) to Africa, so posts could look a bit different for a while. It's important for me to keep sharing with you through this site. Thanks for reading and commenting. It was great to be back in the NW and to hear from people who had tuned in once in a while.
Here we go. I cast my self on the water and hope I will return back... ha! Take care chickens.