Here in Jolly ol' England

Before we start our Peace Corps service, we decided to visit some friends in London. Our friend Graham graciously welcomed us into his flat and guided us on a whirlwind tour of the city yesterday. We saw London Bridge, St Paul's Cathedral, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross, Picadilly Street, Millenium Bridge, the Golden Hind, and lots of other great stuff. I'll try to get some pictures up tomorrow.

My name is Tristan, and in exactly five weeks, my wife and I will fly to Togo, West Africa for 27 months of Peace Corps service. Sounds crazy? A few years ago, I would have thought so. I'm currently a software engineering consultant in Dallas, TX, and I am an admitted technolophile. Now I'm moving to a place where I probably won't have electricity in my home and definitely won't have running water.

This whole Peace Corps thing is still a little surreal at the moment. I'm sure it will start to sink in after we move all our furniture into storage this weekend and I start sleeping on the floor. Note to self- need to buy cheap mattress pad... I find myself coming up with different countdown lists every morning- only 14 days left at work, only 5 Saturdays left, only two weeks left after the last episode of 24, etc. I'm soaking in my last few weeks of Starbucks, cable television, and high-speed internet while I can, but honestly, I can't wait for this adventure to start. I'm so excited!

I will be working as an Information and Communication Technology Advisor for the Small Business Development program. I won't know what exactly that entails until I arrive at my post, but essentially I will be working with (you guessed it) small businesses and entrepreneuring individuals to teach basic computer skills and to find practical, sustainable uses for technology in the area.