On the other side ( of the oceans and the keyboard )

I was in Paris/Lyon for more than a week and I just got back in the US. It has been a wheeling dervish kind of week but quite satisfying.

The purpose of my trip was to straighten out my immigration status and present the HIV/AIDS project to a few companies over there.

Let's just say it ended up being much more than that.

The greatest perk about being in Paris is the chance to reconnect with the family that you have not seen in a while.
We are quite a few, so the meeting are always a joyous raucous. It's not all play either as some of those folks will go out of their way to help move forward with your project ( granted they actually believe it is worth supporting).

Here is one example of how a typical conversation goes during a family meeting:
" My uncle: Ary inona indray izany fiteny vaovao izany aho a Tanana izany ?
( So, what is the new saying back home ?)
My uncle: Ity indray aloha no reko farany: ( Here is the latest juicy exchange I heard)
"ary so dia mba nisy nahita ny godasy teho?
Lasa nitady any ialaha tany zareo letsy e!"
( anyone seen my shoes ?
I think they went looking for you over there, now p* off) ( I added the last part but it's implied) "

Where else would I get up to speed on Malagasy slang in such an entertaining manner ?

Being on the other side of the Atlantic also allowed me to catch up with blogger's friends that I have never met before.
I have been to a few of bloggers' meeting before but none like the one last week. We went to an Australian pub in Les Halles called "Oz" with these Malagasy bloggers based in Paris.
I don't believe you have seen everything until you have seen your fellow bloggers getting giddy with it on "bringing sexy back" . That was absolute fun and totally unexpected. Besides, trying to get three 200 pounds of a rugbymen from New-Zealand to leave the ladies alone create instant bonding materials.
I also got to meet this blogger and these long lost friends.

As Hash said, there is no substitute for real life interaction but blogging sure helps make that connection.
Case in point,
The Macbook below is now on its way to the middle high school in Ilafy (ECG) thanks to collaboration between real life connections ( Purdue U), the guys at afrigadget.com,

The mac book will be used for NTIC workshops on site where brand new blogger and Foko resident IT expert Andry is making things happen. Give him a holler for all the help with Foko if you have the time. He and his brother Sandy were instrumental in getting the laptop to its final destination.

So, yep I am back on this side of the Atlantic and I might have just switched to the (D)Mac side :). With commercial like the one below , how could you not ? ( Yael Naim is one talented lady, isn't she ?)