President Clinton is back from his trip to Africa. From his blog:

The Clinton Hunter Development Initiative is working with local authorities [in Neno, southern Malawi] on several projects to strengthen the community’s health care system.

We toured a construction site for a new district hospital and adjacent staff housing we’re helping to build in partnership with Partners In Health.

The hospital complex looked like a normal construction site: noisy, covered in machinery and teeming with hard hats. But there is more being built than just a hospital - this project alone has created hundreds of jobs and trained local women in construction work, contributing to a foundation of sustainable growth in the community.

While in Neno, we met up with Dr. Paul Farmer, one of the founders of Partners in Health. Much has been written about Paul, his intensity and his inspiring dedication to health care for the world’s poorest. While all of that is true, he also happens to be one of the warmest and funniest people I have ever met, qualities he shares with President Clinton that often get lost on the printed page.

You can help make a difference in the lives of people across Africa by supporting the work of the Clinton Foundation.

I started a new macrobiotic diet today. I decided to transform myself into 'fabulous' by my fortieth birthday. That's six months from now. I bought several bags of long grain brown rice. I'm going to eat some every day for the next 30 days. That's all I really know about the diet so far. I need to read more.

I made a tofu stirfry tonight. All told today, I ate 1,300 calories, mostly wine. Honestly....If I cut back just a little on the hooch and chocolate, I'll have my superbad body back in no time.

OK. Raising Malawi. What can I say? I haven't done much. My new friend Gary at work said he'd be happy to donate a few braincells to the cause. We were going to meet last week. Things got busy, as usual. So, we'll probably meet this week.

I have loads of tape from my Malawi trip that I still haven't looked at. Here's a short clip from our last day. Most of the Raising Malawi folks were working the weekend, so Guy (who owns the lodge where we were staying) invited just me and Delia and Megan out on Sunday to see Lake Malawi.

It was a long and bumpy drive. Megan, Delia and I had all of 3 hours sleep in our systems and were all highly hung over from Megan's birthday outing the night before. But needless to say, we were up for the adventure.

Guy put a lot of blood, sweat and beer into building his boat -- the mighty "Kumbali" -- and by God, come Hell or high water, we were going to take it out to sea. This is us when we first arrived -


Not sure if you can see how rough the Lake is, but it was insane. Just getting on the boat we got tossed around, punched in the face by waves and soaked to the bone. The lake is 360 miles long and 25 miles wide. About the size of Ireland. There are hippos and crocs....and 500 species you don't see anywhere else in the world.

I kept an eye out for wildlife, but didn't see anything scary. They don't hang out on our side of the rock or something until nighttime. Actually, I was a little torn. I really wanted to see a sea monster, but nothing too close...only fish I could take in a fight if push came to shove.

I can't swim very well, but I jumped in anyway. Megan and Delia already climbed back on the boat when I was still splashing around. Peter jumped in for a quick swim. I was getting more and more tired just trying to stay afloat. I tried swimming back to the boat, but they turned on the engine, which they were trying to fix. The boat started pulling away. I felt so sad and desperate. I just wanted to be on it.

The waves were relentless. I went under water for about two seconds; just to rest. I was getting really tired. I swam harder toward the boat. The more I tried, the farther away it got. I went under for another two seconds. I just wanted a short nap. The waves were just too hard to fight anymore. It was the weirdest thing I ever felt. There was a part of me that was OK with drowning. It seemed easier than staying afloat.

Just then, Guy's friend Peter yelled over to me. I didn't know Peter before this trip. He said, "You look pale! Are you OK?" I said, "I don't think so," very politely...not wanting to bother him. "Do you need some help?" He yelled. I said, "Probably" and I went under again.

Honestly. Thank God for Peter that day.

I'm pretty sure I would've died there if he hadn't come to pull my head out of the water. The waves were so huge. He kept getting pulled under too. He yelled over to Guy, who threw the big white rescue tire. I was so happy to hold on to it.

I would live afterall. Like Delia said when we first arrived, we are 'severly blessed'. This, I am certain.

My corporate housing days are coming to a close. I have to be out by 8/7, which is crap if you ask me. They say that's 60 days, but I swear I moved in on 6/11, so I should get to stay through 8/11 and not have to move out on a Wednesday.

I called the corporate housing people and they called WPP and you know what? They said no problem. They'll give me till 8/12, so that's good. Meantime, I signed a lease on a new apartment in Playa del Rey. If my Spanish doesn't fail me, that means Sunny Beach? Beach of the Sun? Which would make sense given that I am a 2-minute walk to the Pacific Ocean, God Bless America!

Here're my new digs:



That's the back of the complex. I'm in one of the back apartments...by the pool.

Here's that:





If you turn your head to the right when you first enter the pool area, you'll see this:



And if you feel an immediate need to sit for some reason, you can go here:


In the pictures it looks pretty suburban. I hope I can stomach it. It's just another year of "temporary" living in my book.....Definately not home.

I delegated finding me a new place to David, who made things happen in the last possible second. He knows me better than anyone. I like to gripe about it first, but I'm most certainly grateful for his help.

I drove him to the airport on Monday where he would be flying off in first class for his next secret big mission. When we said our quick goodbyes, there was a split second of truly connecting between us -- we were both caught off guard and -- I'm talking a sliver of split second -- we actually saw each other. I wonder if he remembers. I loved it more than anything.