Signs of Spring

Spring is springing here in Kamloops! Over the last couple weeks, the birds have been flitting and flirting in pairs, the snow melts, then freezes, then melts, then freezes, until it dries to a desert again...

On Saturday, I went for a walk in Kenna Cartwright Park. As you can see from the photo, it was pretty awesome.

The next day, I was heading out for another walk, so I grabbed the same sweatshirt off my bed. I looked, and there, lounging on my bed, was a Mountain Pine Beetle. Apparently, the little buggers are flying already. Hmmmm, sign of spring in the ravaged heartland.... :(

The Littlest Tycoon

I need to tell you about the coolest website I've seen in ages.
It's http://www.monstertruckfun.com/
You have GOT to check it out.
It's run by Aidan, who is 5. (His mom is my website designer too, so maybe I will one day be the top shelf entrepreneur that he already is.) The site is about Monster Trucks and how cool they are.
But the thing is....the real monster truck drivers email him, and tell him to keep up the good work! And he gets 12,000 unique visitors to his site every month. I bet that's the most visitors to any site hosted by a 5 year old, in the world! And he makes about $80 a month from those visitors clicking on the google adwords. So this means that when he gets his very first girlfriend, maybe this year, or I guess he might wait till Grade 1 next year, they could go on the best date ever. I bet he'll take his girl for the most awesomest, super-duper, hotdogs with dijon ketchup.
Definitely check out his 'About Me' page. I am still laughing at his pictures.
Maybe I could be his first girlfriend? I do love hotdogs.

A Tooth Crunching Week

So, my HUGE news this week is that I have achieved my goal of finding international work. While in LA, I had a 2nd meeting with a company based there, but doing work in Africa. This week, I sent them a proposal to work with them, and they went for it!! Very exciting. And pretty sweaty armpits, holy shit, can't believe I'm doing it, wow, kinda scary. I guess I might be a little more stressed than I really thought, as a piece broke off my tooth this morning - YIKES.
Anyway, this company is really amazing. They are only 8, well now with me, 9 people. 6 of them are from the Democratic Republic of Congo. (Yup, one of the most dangerous places on earth. More on that later.) The founder wants to prove to the world that honest, reliable, fair business can be done in DRC, which is the richest country in Africa in natural resources. He has been working to do this for about 5 years now, and is starting to have a great reputation, and local sellers are approaching him to work with him, as they prefer to work with someone local, and working to give back to the DRC. Also, the guys are extremely well-connected and all well-respected within their various tribes. They tell me that I will not need a visa, as I will be provided with a letter of invitation from the President. [Feel free to say Holy CRAP, as this is blowing my mind too.]
The other guys are Americans, and also well-connected in business.
This company is acting to facilitate business in and out of DRC. So they will buy resources, export them, and sell them. And they will find sellers, and find buyers, and connect the deal. Also, when a western company wants to access the DRC market, they will act as a mediator, and help to connect them with the right contacts in high levels of govt.
The brilliance, in my opinion, of this structure is that they have well-connected locals on both continents, working very closely together. It's not easy for foreigners to do business in Africa, as we have no clue how the Africans think, and we don't know who to trust. BUT, it's also not easy for the Africans to work with Westerners. We all need to learn, and be really flexible.
My job will be to act as a liaison between the Africans and the Western way of thinking. I will spend lots of time in DRC - maybe as much as 9 months a year? I am great with other cultures, so will help the Africans to work with the foreign businessmen, and vice versa. It will be super-fun, as the Africans are pretty relaxed, and love to hang out, drink tea (or beer), and get to know the people they work with very well. I will spend a lot of time telling stories, and laughing!
I will also be assigned to work with one of the guys in a particular resource field. Not totally sure what that will be at this point.

As for the danger.....
Many would think that being a white woman would be a disadvantage - not so. For one, it is not macho to kill women. And I have a friendly personality, great smile, and body shape that really appeals to other cultures. All of the "gorgeous girls" who make movies in Hollywood - they are considered scrawny and unappealing in other cultures.
And I can talk my way through anything. I am very good at charming men with guns! :-)
The intent of this company is never to make a deal that does not benefit all parties. In addition to making plenty of money, they want to spend to help develop the country, focusing on the basics - education, infrastructure, public health, etc. So WHY would anyone local want to give us a hard time? We are the good guys.
And lastly, you know that spidey sense that tells you not to walk down that dark alley? Well, that's the same sense that keeps me out of trouble. Just steer clear of crowds and tension. You have to be incredibly unlucky or incredibly stupid to get into major trouble overseas. Try being nice - you'd be surprised how much trouble that will save you.

Once I get settled, and get everything all figured, and know how to be safe and secure, you could pop over for a visit! Africa is so interesting - I've lived there for a few months, and it's so fun to see what the local customs are like, go to weddings, baby showers, and other parties. It's a blast. I look forward to seeing you there!

On the first day, she created a Blog

Hi guys
Welcome to my NEW blog. As you likely all know, I am about to take off on an international adventure. And you probably also know that I love to write stories about what I see, who I meet, what I do.....mostly the funny stuff, but sometimes not. My stuff is mostly true, although I may change names or details to protect the innocent... OK, more likely, I'll modify details to make a better story. So it's like Hollywood - Based on a True Story, but funnier and maybe better-looking.

So you're probably wondering why it's called 'Cartwheeling Down Centreline'?? That ties back to a send-off I had a few years ago, before embarking on another adventure. A select and wonderful group of friends took pity (?) on me, as I was leaving beautiful Northwest BC without ever having gone to Mini-Kispiox Music Fest OR ever being HYDERIZED. That sitch had to be remedied!

It was a wicked trip, truly a terrific farewell tour of NW BC, and as we were heading north, we were out of the car, and literally did cartwheels down the centreline of Hwy 37.

But cartwheeling down centreline is also kind of a metaphor for me.....seems I'm always the greenest person in a room of rednecks, and the biggest redneck in a room of granola-crunching hippies. There I am, twirling in the middle.

Ground rules:
All good facilitators know that setting ground rules is a good idea, even if no one really sticks to them!
So here they are:
1. no fighting, be respectful, be nice!
2. I will try my best not to be boring (once this post is done that is). Feel free to call me on it.

OK kids, this is my way of staying in touch while I move around the globe. Feel free to answer back so I know that you're out there.

Tara