So I am about to leave for Africa! I am sitting in my hotel and leeching off the free internet and contemplating my new adventure!
Well, to be honest, I'm contemplating how delicious that sausage and cheese omelet was that I just had for breakfast and wondering when I will get a chance to eat something like that again. One of my least favorite AND most favorite things about traveling is the food. In Ecuador, I learned to love a lot of new and different fruits and vegetables and even some weird cornbread that was cooked wrapped in a paleo-botonist's dream of a giant leaf. (It was no Tree Star though...). I also learned in Ecuador that just because your host mom tells you that you are going to have pizza for lunch after you had to swallow whole some "liver/pepper/guacamole/tomato/everything you hate" meal the night before , you shouldn't get excited. Its probably some sad imitation of pizza that will tease you until you dig in and end up with something in your mouth that was never intended to be eaten on a pizza. And lets be honest, Americans will eat anything on a pizza. Macaroni and cheese pizza? I've eaten it and gotten seconds and you would have too! In Europe I learned that something as sacred as ketchup (Catsup for my sister Carl and my Dad) can be ruined! Sad day, Great Britain, sad day. I can't imagine the food shenanigans and travesties I will find in Benin, but I am both excited and terrified.
I am actually really excited for Africa today. It was hard for me to accept that I was really going until I got to Philadelphia and interacted with the other volunteers. Everyone seems pretty awesome and I can't wait to get to know them better. One of my biggest worries has been meeting people that I can really connect with. I have been extremely lucky over the last five years to find kindred spirits that I can connect with and that help bring out better sides of me. I sincerely hope I can find people like that in Africa as well.
I'm not sure when I will be able to update this again, so please be patient. I would have written more but I have very little time and I am splitting it between this and uploading pictures to facebook so everyone will get OFF MY BACK about it! :D So until we meet again, I will miss you all and please keep me in your thoughts because I know I will be thinking about you.
Some random info:
Book I'm reading: How Did You Get This Number by Sloane Crosley. Its a collection of essays by this writer that I really like. They are pretty funny and heartfelt and will hopefully influence my writing here. One of my favorite stories from her previous book (I Was Told There Would Be Cake) is called the Pony Problem. I think I like it so much because I can relate. She has this problem where people continuously buy her funny little pony figurines and she doesn't know what to do with them. She has a nervous habit of telling people that she would like them to buy her a pony and, thinking they are being cute and clever, boyfriends and friends end up buying her pony figures. She ends up hiding them in a drawer in her kitchen and lives in perpetual fear that her "problem" drawer will be found out. Many of you who know me probably recognize the fact that I have a similar problem. People seem to think (and probably very correctly) that I would love them to buy me the most ridiculous thing they see at a store, on vacation, at the circus, or that they find on the street. And if you have seen the look on my face when I see a squirrel using its squirrel hands to do anything or a plastic bag floating across the sidewalk that looks like a shrunken head, then you would correctly assume that it is my habit to accept these gifts with an attitude of pure, unabashed joy and entertainment. The problem arises when someone I don't know very well gets a look at the droll nick-nacks that are beginning to clutter any living space I inhabit. Someday, someone is going to have to clean out my house after I die and they will quickly gain the impression that I am some sort of sick hoarder with a creepy animal figurine and doll fetish. But until that day, I would appreciate any and all nonsense type items that you would be willing to send to Africa so that I can fill up my hut with ridiculousness and continue my problem. :)
Currently listening to: Not much, but I'm sure Coldplay will make an appearance as I always listen to it when I travel.
Funny/random story: I made a fool of myself (not uncommon, but still embarassing) in front of a bunch of people about a week ago. We went swimming at these natural springs in Georgia where my sister lives. The springs were crystal clear and ice cold. You could also jump off a 15-20 foot ledge into them. With all the possibilities that awaited me for shame in this scenario, I will have you know that the most embarrassing thing that happened was that I did a sort of but flop on my first jump and ended up with a bright red behind for the rest of the day. No, my sad story starts later in the day. The springs run out into a warmer river and we discovered that a bunch of cool kids, their less cool parents, and some random adults with tattoos were all using a rope swing that was tied to a tall tree to swing out over the river and jump in. I knew right away that I was not going to have the arm strength for this business. It was a single rope with a few knots tied on the bottom. But I couldn't lose face, so I soldiered on. I awkwardly scrambled down the hill and grabbed onto the rope. The children who had gone before me stared at me with such expectation (and maybe a little doubt) from the river below. My plan was to just hold on to the rope and hang from it like a limp doll. That way, I wouldn't have to exert any arm strength, I would just have to keep a firm grip on the rope for about 5 seconds. THIS DID NOT WORK. As soon as I got anywhere near the river my feet caught on the water and I flipped forward to smack my face and upper body onto the water. I came up and everyone was laughing at me. Especially the children. It was a sad day. So my hope right now it that there are no rope type obstacles that will reveal my lack of upper body strength to my neighbors and students in Africa and make me look like a fool.
And with that I bid "Adieu! Adieu! To you, and you, and you!"
No comments:
Post a Comment