Cartography 101

Monday.  

Started morning with a big cup of loose leaf chinese "bird" tea because 

1. I couldn't fathom Nescafe and 

2. Viengmany has ensured me that it makes you "tin."

Settled down at my desk to answer emails and begin reminding Lathtana that he needed to send me the GPS information we collected in Phou San so I can start trying Google Earth mapping.  This was at 8:45.  By 9:30, he had started downloading the GPS software and it was projected to take another 2 hours and 43 minutes to complete.  You got to love Lao internet connections.  

I decided to spend the rest of my morning beginning to prepare a presentation on English language and grammar.  We have decided that the next time I am in Xieng Khouang, we will dedicate a day to teaching english.  Although I am still waiting to find out exactly what my colleagues want to know, I've started by copying all of their emails onto slides and marking them up with edits.  This way, they can see their mistakes in context and the information is guaranteed to be useful.  Having never actually taught english before, it was interesting to try and figure out the best ways to explain some of the intricacies of the language.  To be honest, english is hard.

Lunchtime rolled around and Viengmany invited me to eat spaghetti with her.  Apparently she had been cooking for the last hour and wanted to compare our sauce recipes.  It was good, but I completely struggled eating it with chopsticks.  I realize it shouldn't be any harder than pho, but believe me, it was.

By the time we were done with lunch, the Garmin software had officially downloaded and Lathana was able to convert the information into an excel file.  Thanks to a woman I met in Vientiane who works for UNICEF, I knew of a website that would help me convert everything into a readable Google Earth file.  I followed the steps and after four failures, I was finally able to produce a map.  

Now not only to I calculate shit, but I can map it too!  I'm adding that to my resume.  

Check out my first map!!!

The work day ended and Youla invited me to go on a run, but having only flip-flops and heels, I declined.  I promised him we could go next time.  As soon as he left, the power went out in the office and I retreated to our front porch with my book to catch the last hour of sunlight.  The power returned just as it got dark.  I guess it was good timing after all.