i'm in colorado now -- i arrived on saturday. i'm living the good life, spending lots of time with my cousins and grandma, eating good food, and having fun. i slept well last night, so i think the worst of the jet lag is over. today the highlight will be my 4 year old cousin sarah's show-and-tell exhibit today.

this is my rough travel plan. i'll be checking with those most directly affected, then buying tickets today.

denver -- through 23 december
topeka -- a few days
columbia, mo -- through feb 1
ski in new mexico -- through feb 7
travel to hong kong via gretchen's in pennsylvania -- through 24 feb
hang out with gretchen, chet, and cadence in pennsylvania -- through 4 march
then, i'll visit austin, portland, and return to namibia. i'm still looking around for fares, but the best ones look to leave from new york, so i may end up seeing gretchen and everybody another time too.

i'm at my uncle's now, and checking email daily so please feel free to right. i'm looking forward to seeing everybody.

well, the free and unlimited internet access thing hasn't really worked out that way. there are lots of volunteers here on vacation, and i have a lot of meetings, appointments, and various wastings of time going on, so i have only jumped on here for a few minutes at a time. i also haven't had much time to check on fares for visiting my parents and returning here, so my plan hasn't firmed up much at all.

this much i know, though. i'll leave here on friday and am scheduled to arrive in denver on saturday afternoon. and, i'm going to try and visit the parents in early to middle february so at least part of my visit overlaps with chinese new year. it's a good time to be around hong kong and they'll have a lot of free time then.

kristin is doing an amazing thing. she decided it would be nice to have a running camp for girls at her school -- last year a few came close to qualifying for nationals, and she thought with a little more practice they might be able to do it. so she told the staff at her school that she was interested, but only wanted to do it if at least one person would help out some. she had someone she considered reliable sign up, and proceded to get permission to borrow a vcr and use the students' dorm. sure enough, almost every commitment that anyone made didn't work out. she decided to give it a whirl on her own, and has finished about a week in the hostel with 9 girls. i helped out a little bit, but really the lion's share of the work she's done. it sounds like things are going well, but it's kind of stressful for her.

when i was leaving, the kids at kristin's camp made little thank you cards for me. the best one said "thank you for learning us those card games. you are a nice guy. you cook just like a women."

i'm in windhoek now, being interviewed by management, checked by doctors, and so on. there are lots of my friends around, so it's been a pretty good time. i'm looking forward, though, to seeing everybody and then getting on with things.

take care, jon.

hey. i'm overdue for an update--sorry about that. i've been working on a plan, but haven't finished with it.

here's what i do know:

i'll leave today for windhoek, and get there tomorrow. tomorrow i'll officially resign from the peace corps and start the getting out of town process. it sounds like it may only take a few days, and they're already working on a flight home, so tomorrow i should be able to tell you when i'll be back in the u.s. they're flying me into denver, so i'll start there. my parents want me to visit for chinese new year in february, so i'm going to try and do that.

otherwise, i need to plan a trip around the u.s. (probably mostly on greyhound, but i'll fly to visit pennsylvania). it'll last until march or early april, then i'll come back here and do something. not sure what that is yet.

not too firm, but i promise i'll nail it down more soon. take care. i'm really looking forward to seeing everybody.

i will have free and unlimited internet access in windhoek, so i'll write you personal emails from there. take care, jon