tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65971012024-03-07T23:57:24.347-05:00Just Memy life and musings.Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.comBlogger145125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-31626366477854145962011-06-21T08:49:00.000-05:002011-06-21T08:50:01.397-05:00testLesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-38836446726777238362008-07-30T10:37:00.001-05:002008-07-30T11:02:17.266-05:00she's outta there!I’m currently in Khartoum all alone at the agency flat, and it so great to have some solitude! It has been so long since I have been on my own, and while I was concerned at first when I found out I would be alone for a few days it’s fine now. I have satellite television, my own internet connection, a washer and air conditioning. It seems like the lap of luxury after Darfur!Now, when I heard Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-53319405772201016302008-07-23T05:32:00.000-05:002008-07-25T05:34:38.523-05:00normalcyI have wanted to blog for awhile now, but I wasn’t sure what I could share about last week’s events that wouldn’t raise any red flags or cause me to get kicked out of the country. I am also tired of thinking about last week. Last week was particularly cruel, a week where the reality of “Darfur” hit very close to home and caused me to experience some of the first real stress I have had since my Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-13836095199833154832008-07-07T08:36:00.000-05:002008-07-07T08:37:47.741-05:00babur khalaasOur generator died yesterday. It was a gradual, tortured painful death. We have been pouring money left and right into the thing trying to keep it running until our new generators arrived from Khartoum. It had gotten to the point that we only had enough power to run the ceiling fans and our computers. Even printing would cause the thing to overload. So, this day was coming. Thankfully it Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-54270213955080949982008-07-05T08:15:00.001-05:002008-07-05T08:15:27.674-05:00i'm bloggingI have decided, after a 6 month hiatus, that I am going to blog about my experiences here. Part of this stems from the growing feeling that no one knows what is going on with me, and part of it stems from not being able to have someone to talk to about my feelings of being here. So, instead of keeping my observations to myself I am going to release them to all of the people who might stumble Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-31300663545704887472008-07-04T08:11:00.000-05:002008-07-05T08:19:43.774-05:00a chilled out 4thThis has to be the most low-key 4th of July I have ever had, even overseas. I slept in a bit this morning because a hedgehog in my room kept me up late last night. I laid in my bed in a state of semi-consciousness until I could no longer stand how sweaty I was and got up to shower. After a bit of coffee and doing my laundry, I spent the rest of the afternoon under the rakuba in our backyard Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-52695933592376522132008-06-10T08:16:00.000-05:002008-07-05T08:18:45.122-05:00volleyball and monkeysSo, I played volleyball with a monkey yesterday. Apparently the people at WFP got a new pet monkey while I was gone.This isn’t the first WFP monkey. The first monkey was eaten by a pack of wild dogs in Geneina. Apparently (I’m told) the monkey was a chain smoking alcoholic who thought it was a dog. One day it got out of the compound and tried to play with a group of stray dogs in the Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-51895038958160989032008-06-08T08:16:00.000-05:002008-07-05T08:19:18.706-05:00darfur materialismCoffee, miraculous coffee!! My coffee has finally, FINALLY arrived from Khartoum. I had left a box of things (mostly food, coffee, books and other comfort items) in the office in Khartoum to be forwarded to me via cargo on a WFP flight. Anyway, after a few weeks of waiting I got these items today.Now I have never considered myself to be a very materialistic person, but it is amazing how a few Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-5533382857453262522008-02-17T09:27:00.003-05:002008-02-17T10:07:47.048-05:00travelin tomorrowWell, I am leaving Khartoum tomorrow on a jet plane. Actually, no, on a propeller plane. If everything goes according to plan it will be my last trip for a bit and I will get settled into my new place fine.The last week has seemed both long and short at the same time. Part of that may be because there is so little to distinguish one day from the next that it is easy to lose track of the date and Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-25261399619179127362008-02-11T14:56:00.000-05:002008-02-11T15:04:02.227-05:00back in the saddleSo, I'm going to give the whole blogging thing another shot. It's been a while, quite a while, since I shared the goings on of my life on the internet! I actually think part of this is because I have become a bit more private over the past year and a half..or maybe its because I didn't think anyone really looked at my blog or cared about my thoughts, and I didn't feel the need to at least put Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-73600868398920907402006-11-21T09:38:00.000-05:002008-01-25T17:40:24.368-05:00my heart, right nowThe plight of refugees was something that I never really considered until I came to Baltimore to work. Since then I have been exposed to many of the realities of refugees and IDP’s, through my work and through reading books about Afghanistan and other places. The issues that effect refugees and IDP’s have become very real to me, and its very very sad. When you see these images of Darfur, you Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-19220089282197046232006-11-21T09:37:00.000-05:002006-11-21T09:38:33.995-05:00quotablesFrom People magazineStephen Colbert, this year’s Sexiest Men with Glasses:“I am sexy. This isn’t ego talking: People magazine says I’m sexy, and I accept that. Who am I to argue? I’m just a person. They’re People.”Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-72889482758862012812006-11-13T16:45:00.000-05:002006-11-13T16:46:30.750-05:00november?Last week was very busy at work. We had a few consultants in for a two-day security training that I was in charge of making sure happened…which meant that I had some late nights at the grocery store and early mornings brewing coffee and setting up a room with easel paper and markers. That said, the training itself is very interesting and I now know how to react if someone throws a live grenade Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-89287307361703492832006-11-08T10:32:00.000-05:002006-11-08T13:01:26.208-05:00tired but happyI am tired this morning. Why? Because I got way too caught up in watching the results last night. I spent significant amounts of time flipping tv stations and hitting the refresh button on the political blogs and cnn.com. What I all boils down to is that I am apparently very much a politics geek, but we all have to be true to ourselves.Needless to say, I am happy this morning, though no doubt Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-663244719406022552006-11-07T17:05:00.000-05:002006-11-07T17:07:44.848-05:00vote!I voted today, did you? It was the first time I ever voted in MD, first time I ever voted on an electronic machine, the first time I was ever not asked for an ID while voting (which I find scary), and the first time I ever voted for a Republican (I only voted for one..)Go vote!Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-91354539124539425202006-11-01T12:07:00.000-05:002006-11-01T12:09:14.750-05:00funI have been, pleasantly, too busy to write recently. Work picked up a bit at the end of last week, and Friday was crazy because I had to leave early.Sarah, Kirsten and I went to Philly on Friday to see The Fray at the Electric Factory. Sarah was very jazzed about it all, but I was more enthusiastic about the chance to see Philly again than I was about seeing the The Fray (although, The Fray is Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-49665428487402356012006-10-24T12:16:00.001-05:002006-10-24T12:16:59.545-05:00weekendAfter many boring weeks and weekends of doing nothing special because of general lack of plans and/or bad weather, this past weekend was pretty full of things to do.My mom was here for a quick one-night visit on Friday/Saturday. She was staying with family friends in PA for a visit, and was flying out of Baltimore, so she spent the night at my place. It was great to see her, and it was nice forLesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-1161621551342012852006-10-23T11:38:00.000-05:002006-10-23T11:35:36.581-05:00pointless nostalgicAs I wrote before, I bought a few Jamie Cullum CD’s after seeing him live in DC earlier this month. Below are the liner notes (which I love) from his album “Pointless Nostalgic” (which I ALSO love):“I once met a man who, when asked why he never took photographs of his kids, simply tapped the side of his head and said “it’s all in here.” I admired that greatly, because I simply don’t have enough Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-1161367738279241252006-10-20T13:04:00.000-05:002006-10-23T11:35:36.516-05:00busy-nessI am sorry for my lack of writing lately. It was because of a number of things....work being really busy, my not wanting to talk/share about what has been happening, my not feeling like I have anything to talk about.Anyway, things have calmed down a bit at work, in a matter of speaking, I suppose. It's still as wild as it usually is, but it is less crazy than it has been recently. I saw Jamie Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-1159892290721318922006-10-03T11:17:00.000-05:002006-10-23T11:35:36.448-05:00complimentIn the past week someone told me they thought I lived the words of Micah 6:8. It's one of the biggest compliments I have ever recieved.Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-1159830376078763952006-10-02T18:05:00.000-05:002006-10-23T11:35:36.384-05:00fortune cookieA frivolous gift is a gift, nonetheless.Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-1158933788699539292006-09-22T09:00:00.000-05:002006-10-23T11:35:36.314-05:00i love this!Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-1158772473371537082006-09-20T12:12:00.000-05:002006-10-23T11:35:36.240-05:00birthday thoughtsWhen I look back on this week (you know, when I am REALLY old, like 40-wink, wink) I truly believe that it will live in infamy as one of the hardest weeks of my life. I saw the gruesome death of a very important friendship this week because of the actions of myself and someone I care about greatly. It’s funny how we can take the gifts that God gives us and allow human nature to completely Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-1158080613178859932006-09-12T12:00:00.000-05:002006-10-23T11:35:36.175-05:00quotablesMe: Did Sarah come back yet? Did she have a CD with her?Kirsten: Yes, she came back but I don't know about the CD.Me: If she has Justin Timberlake with her, I'll be happy...The CD, not the man.....Acutally, the man would make me happy too.Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6597101.post-1158006285770674842006-09-11T15:09:00.000-05:002006-10-23T11:35:36.109-05:00kevin sites in the hotzoneOne of my new favorite bloggers is Kevin Sites. In the fall of last year, he set out to cover all of the world's conflict zones, or at least some of the most active conflicts currently.Below is his year in review article, as posted on his site today. I thought it was really interesting, and many of the places he visits are potential places where my organization could work in the future.Our Lesliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618902276894059827noreply@blogger.com0