Quarter of a Century

Well, I'm just over halfway through my final vacation of Peace Corps. I have had a crazy fun time traveling through Italy and Croatia with my friend Emily. I will share more stories in a later blog (I'm tired and have a big day of hiking tomorrow), but I thought I'd post a few pictures from my birthday. We took a bus from Zagreb to Plitvice National Park that day, where I was startled by literally dozens of waterfalls. It was just about the most beautiful place I've ever been to.

(some of the waterfalls at Plitvice)

(Emily and me on top of a mountain)

(After this photo, I promptly dipped my shoe in the lake climbing off that tree!)

I took a zillion photos of different lakes and waterfalls on my hike, and I will definitely post more later. We hiked around the lakes for about five hours before heading back to Zagreb, where we were "couch surfing" with a documentary filmmaker (and unofficial Croatia guide) named Marin. Marin took us out for drinks that evening -- we had red wine mixed with Coca Cola, which tasted surprisingly good. Then we met up with his friend Dragan and hung out at his high-rise apartment overlooking Zagreb.

Dragan, Marin, me and Emily

Zagreb is a beautiful city, by the way. It still has a small-town feel in the center district, complete with a towering cathedral from the middle ages. Emily and I spent a few days just walking around the city and eating gelatto.

(Emily and me in downtown Zagreb)

(the Zagreb cathedral)

It was an amazing birthday -- definitely going down in my book as one of my best and most memorable ones ever. I'm still in Croatia, but now I'm in the southern region (Makarska). It is very different, but equally as stunning -- There are villages squished in between giant rocky mountains and the blue-green sea. Like I said, I will definitely write more later (we've also traveled to Milan, Venice, Dubrovnik and Slovonsky Brod -- right on the border of Bosnia). But for now I hope that these pictures and short descriptions will do!

Go Blue!

Are you ready for some life updates?? Here goes... I have finally made my choice for where to go to grad school. For those of you who didn't know, I was as indecisive as ever this past month trying to choose between Duke and Michigan (for a dual MBA/Master of Public Policy degree). After going back and forth many times (thanks to everyone for listening to me weigh my options over and over and over..), I finally buckled down and accepted my offer at Michigan! I am really excited now that I know where I'll be this fall (although I'm NOT looking forward to moving somewhere where is snows a lot! Especially since I'm in the middle of hot season here in Mali). I'll start my three-year program at the Ford School of Public Policy, then move on next year to the Ross School of Business (the third year will be mixed). I'm super busy here in Segou trying to squeeze in the last few projects of my Peace Corps service. I am hosting a three-day leadership training next week for all tourism and artisan PCVs and their Malian counterparts, and I just found out yesterday that I won't have the project funding for another four weeks! So now Mme. Koumare and I are going to have to convince everyone (e.g. hotels and caterers) to let us go through with the training without being paid right away. This should be fun... After that I'm flying to Milan! I'll be spending my 25th birthday eating gelatto in Italy en route to Croatia with my friend Emily. I can't wait! And as if that's not enough to look forward to....I just found out that my sisters Patty and Maria are visiting me this July! I just told Mme. Koumare this, and she is almost as excited as I am. I had already named Maria "Maimouna" when she was in Ghana, which is Mme. Koumare's first name. So she's excited to meet her. Patty will have to wait to see what Malian name she'll get... :-) If anyone wants to vote, let me know (some options: Fatimata, Rokia, Adiaratu, Mariam, Tata, Tene, Salimata, Korotimi, Aisha, Aissata, Aminata, Aoua, Oumou, Sira, Kadiatu, Koumba). Well, that about does it. I'll be back in Seattle in three months, and then I'll be driving cross-country with my sister Cindy in August. Hopefully I'll get to see everyone in between!