Deep Thoughts

The other day I went to bum some sugar from my family, mostly because I was too lazy to walk to the shop and buy some. That act of laziness got me in an introspective mood. Here are my thoughts.

I'm willing to borrow things TO people. I'm also willing to borrow things FROM people.

My backyard is now a chicken coop, which houses an enormous chicken. *

I don't use toilet paper. Instead I use old Peace Corps newsletters. 

I lost 20 pounds. Then gained 10. I feel not fat. **

I could probably drink water out of a Shell Station toilet now and be ok.

I now have a tattoo, sort of.

My Happy 50th Birthday Rusty shirt has spoiled, but I refuse to get rid of it.

I can grow a mustache. I've been immortalized on Facebook.


Now, of course, these were not the only thoughts that I've ever had, nor that surfaced during my meditative session. Just thoughts.

Moving on.

By end of June, I will have moved from my awesome 5-sided hut on the cusp of the bush to a more urban and probably quadrilateral place in Brikama. Brikama is home to the single most legitimate learning institution in the country and I intend to teach programming there. While the last two years have been a challenge in their own right, they haven't been a technical challenge. I've got the itch to do some programming; a fever I would say. And the only prescription is more cowbell. So wish me me luck as I begin to wrap up my Peace Corps career with this new endeavor.



* My host mother came to me one afternoon wanting know if she could use some extra chicken wire I had laying around. Sure, no problem. I went away for some Peace Corps business for a couple weeks. A came back to find this monstrosity of a chicken in my backyard, along with a stud rooster, who was dwarfed by this hen. So business savvy, that mother of mine.

** Here's my secret to my not-feeling-fatness: 
- Rice to eat, lot's of it. 
- Water to drink, lots of it. 
- Natural exercise, not necessarily a lot of it. (e.g. push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, yoga)
- Biking, a little bit of it. 

That's it. After living here for two years, I realize that we Americans are physically pathetic. Sit in the car and drive to work, sit in front of a computer and do work, sit in the car and drive home, sit in the chair and watch the television, lay down in the bed and go to sleep. No physical exertion. The short little walks to the fridge don't count. We even maintain our lawns sitting down. We've evolved (or have been designed) to walk upright, even run at times. If we humans were a species whose intended mode of locomotion was sitting, then we'd all look like Jabba the Hut. (And some of us do.) In all my time here in Africa, I've seen TWO fat kids. Two. And the family of one of them owns a restaurant. So... there's no reason why people can't walk anywhere that's within a mile radius of home. That's a twenty minute walk. In the age of DVR and Tivo, if people have time to watch their 4th favorite sitcom, they can take the time to walk to the grocery store or to the take-out chinese place. It's not that hot, trust me. My testicles are sweating as I type this. But it might be cold, so wear a jacket.