Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Brown Family! This picture is of Wendy and Anthony's housewarming/Christmas party- fun family event. I hope everybody is having a great Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanza or whatever.

Where have all the men gone?

So me and Martine felt the need to post this topic to the blog to get some feedback from you ladies (and men) out there. Has anybody noticed that men just aren't the same brave, brawny, tough, outdoor loving, beer drinking, shopping hating kind of guys anymore? Now to all my male friends out there, I'm not talking about you, so no getting mad. But it just seems as there's way too much waxing, shaving, shopping, martini drinking, and crying going on by men these days. Where's the men that could chop down wood on a cold winter's night if we needed them to (and without a shirt of course)? (p.s. if you know one of these, please send contact info to Julie, Martine, Kim, Maresa, and myself). And is it just me, or have the roles between men and women changed just a bit? It seems as if the ladies are enjoying the drinking, random make out sessions, and overall good times more than the men these days. Hey men, here's a message from us ladies: ditch the pink shirts and facials and come out and have some fun!!!

Please take note of the following:

Martine's Here

Martine has arrived! Let the partying begin (not as much as Friday night though as I think my liver might fail before the age of 30). Martine is on the left, Kim in the middle.

OUI, JE T'ACCEPTE

So my friend Jason (hey baby) has lead me to a fabulous, non-corrupt, African President's website. Of course it's Omar Bongo's. My favorite part is where you can send an email to Bongo. So perhaps we should have a little competition- who can come up with the best email draft to send to El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba? Kathy, you game?

http://www.omarbongo.org/

40 Years Between Volunteers

So I guess this entry is targeted at the Gabon RPCV's more than anybody else. I went to a NPCA event in Phoenix today. It was great- there were over 100 Arizona RPCV's all with great stories to tell. Something that was surprising to me was that approximately 75% of the RPCV's there were over the age of 60. They really had some interesting stories about serving in a time before the internet and cell phones. About halfway through the event, I noticed a man in his 60's or so whose nametag said Gabon, 1962-1964. I had to approach him as I'm sure you can all agree that finding Gabon RPCV's isn't as easy as with some other countries. As it turns out, Doug Hawkins was in the very first group to go over and serve in Gabon in 1962, exactly forty years before our group went. They did their training in Puerto Rico and St. Thomas and then went straight to their posts once in Gabon. He worked in the school construction program when they got to drive cars around. He worked in Lambarene and Ndende and a couple other small towns where they built schools. He actually worked in Lambarene when Albert Schweizer was there. Him and a couple other volunteers used to stop by the Hospital, help out, and chat with Albert Schweizer whenever possible. Wow! We swapped stories and tried to figure out the major changes between the 40 years that occurred between our services. One thing we concluded- in the 40 years since he served, not many roads had been paved! Anyway, just wanted to post this as it really got me thinking about Gabon. Gonna put up some pics for memories.

Sionara Work!

So I walked into work in jeans and a sweatshirt yesterday and said peace out. Though I am very happy to be moving on and not working in my 4' x 4' cubicle box, I am sad to leave the work friends. So this is a tribute to you work friends (think of the Bud Light radio commercials). Here's to you work friends- you were always there for me when I needed thrice used manila folders, always there when we needed beers at lunchtime, always there to mass email to get through the day, always willing to hook up with a y-connector, and always willing to role play when needed (oh no wait, not that one). Here's to you work friends.

Drunken Aussies

I'm sorry but this was just too funny to not post. Check it out: http://www.satirewire.com/news/jan02/australia.shtml

Bongo Wins Election again....

Well guys, the Gabonese election results are in and Bongo has apparently won with 79.2% of the apparently 107% or so of the votes counted. Wow, what great voter turnout! The "little guy" has done it again. Bongo now enters his 39th year in the Presidency. He has won election in 1967, 1973, 1979, 1980, 1986, 1993, and 1998. Join me in congratulating him on being the second longest termed President in the world (second only to Fidel Castro). Here here. Vive la paix!

12 days and counting...

12 days and counting until my English friend Martine gets to Arizona to help tear it up for a month. Fun and crazy times are inevitable. I've asked her to bring the following (and please add to the list if you see fit):

Kiera Nightley (for J...lesbian list), Madonna's American accent back, Legolas, a toblerone bar, the Rock of Ages, a pastie, forgiveness for Robbie Williams, a "mind the gap" t-shirt for my dad, and Ewan McGregor if possible. Party Time!

The Fam Goes to Mexico...Griswolds Style

Okay, so as I mentioned below, the family went to Rocky Point, Mexico for Thanksgiving. I just thought I would share some pictures with commentary.

Left is Julie bargaining on the beach at J.J's Cantina for a shirt that my dad just had to have. It was a Harley Davidson shirt that read on the back: "If you can read this, the bitch fell off." Oh dad. She got them down to $9.




Julie, Wendy, and Lori at the Crow's Nest at the Lighthouse. Pirates. Had to make this picture bigger so that we could all admire Wendy's pearly whites through the wheel.

The family during the ASU and UofgAy game. Um, what's going on with your head dad? Have another one!

The sisters (minus Shelly...don't worry Shelly, we poored one out for you) AFTER the ASU game.

ASU beats UofA

After UofA fans managed to paint ASU's golden "A" on A- Mountain UofA colors (red and blue), the Sun Devils got their payback with a 23-20 win over those miscreant Wildcats. The Brown Family (with ASU lineage tracing back to our great grandmother) watched the game in true Brown Family style: at Latitude 31 in Rocky Point, Mexico. The bar was divided between UofA and ASU fans, but in the end, after a few hours of beer drinking and name calling, ASU prevailed sending those UofA fans back to their dirty town. Yeh ASU! The Territorial Cup is ours!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from the Hoff!

An Aussie's First Kegstand

So apparently the college art known as the kegstand is an American ritual and doesn't extend past our borders. So on Friday night, with a keg full of Kiltlifter (great Four Peaks Brewery beer by the way), we hoisted up the Aussie from work. Poor Matt, lasted 15 seconds and then became quite dizzy. Why is it that we have developed this kegstand ritual? This reminds me of a time when me and fellow Peace Corps volunteer Penelope were waiting in the Libreville airport for a flight back to Franceville. Haut Ogouee...yeh! Anyway, we were in the drinking mood as it was New Year's and our previous flight had left early without notice (which would have insuated the freezing over of hell). Nonetheless, we managed to find the one draft beer tap in the whole country serving Namibian beer and thought we had just struck gold. After a beer or two and a little buzz, we secretly began plotting how we could get the 80-year-old or so mama sitting next to us (nervous as she had never flown before, dressed in her villagois pagne) hoisted up into a kegstand. We thought it was so great and had the comic relief laugh we needed. But this brings us back to the question of "why do we feel the need to do a kegstand if there is a keg nearby?"

Salute Your Shorts!

Okay, so this occurred a while ago, but in sifting through pics I found this gem and couldn't let it go unnoticed. Anybody out there misfortunate enough to have seen that Nickelodeon show "Salute Your Shorts?" You know, "Camp Anawana, we hold you in our hearts..." Well, while partying it up in Rocky Point, Mexico a few months ago, me and some friends ran into the one and only Donkey Lips. Or perhaps you may know him best from the oscar worthy "Dude Where's My Car?" Anyway, had to share this celeb experience. Nice spill on your shirt DL.

New video shows renewed support for Backstreet Boys in China

Now this is just wonderful. Just when you and I were beginning to question the popularity of the Backstreet Boys in China, came along these two college fellows and gave us renewed hope. Thank you Chinese college guys! (Um, and isn't the guy in the background the least bit concerned?)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6739710473912337648

Welcome to my blog

Hey all, welcome to my blog.