Seriously guys, we’re now officially living in the future. I want my flying car. We were at least supposed to be going back to Jupiter by now. Instead I’m sitting in a hut without electricy or running water, playing with a cat. Not exactly what I would have guessed as a kid reading Asimov or Clarke.
Still, I am writing a note that will be read by people all over the world, and have recently spoken on a wireless, satelite assisted phone with my grandparent in Michigan- about as far from here as you can get. So maybe there is hope.
In other news, it’s finally 2010! It’s a little strange to actually be here. I’ve been writing 2010 on Peace Corps material for awhile now, and when Basotho have asked me how long I’ll be here, my usual response has been “A long time, until 2010.” Not so long anymore.
Updates from the last few months:
- Spent three weeks traveling with Grandpa and Grandma, Carol, Pat and Ernie, and various other OAT tour group people. It was a great time, and a well needed vacation. Seeing South Africa through different eyes than you have as a Peace Corps volunteer was a valuable experience. I was reminded of just how incredible South Africa is, and how unlikely it was twenty years ago that it would turn out as well as it did. Also, being able to go on safari and see “Africa” as it’s viewed on the discovery channel was a lot of fun. To those back home that are convinced living in Africa means dodging lions on my walk to work, at least I’ve seen them now.
- My lady cat is, well, not a lady. While on vacation, I left her (him?) with another volunteer, who also has a lady cat. Ema matured considerably in the time I was gone, and did not act the gentleman to poor lilly (the other cat). The volunteer taking car of them ended up getting her cat spayed, a few days before I came back to take both cats up to my site while the other volunteer was on vacation. Poor Lilly was stuck in a cat-carrier with Ema, on a flight, and then in a new house. To add to the indignity, uncle Oscar force fed her antibiotics for a week and removed her stitches. While she’s well recovered, I don’t think we’re going to be friends anytime soon. Which leaves us with Ema, now a boy. I’ve been trying to come up with a good name, and I think I’ve settled on Nelson, the name for the first cat I was going to get last year. (Bonus history points for getting the connection between the two names).
- I’ve gotten results for both the GRE and LSAT. Without false modesty, I did quite well (710/720/5.0 on GRE, 168 on LSAT), and so now need to figure out what I’m doing with my life after I go home. I’m putting together applications, and will hopefully have answers in a few months.
That’s about it. The internet has been really sketchy the last few days, so I don’t think I’m going to be able to upload pictures today. Next update, I promise.
Congratulations on the test scores. (You beat my verbal GRE score.)
And scientists are still working on the flying cars, but are running into a problem. Namely, that people have a hard enough time driving in two dimensions, let alone in a third.
hmm… desires a flying car and gets a tranvestite cat… must be 2010.
Emma was the given name of Lady Hamilton with whom Nelson had well-publicized, scandalous affair. (You can still see the famous erection in Trafalgar Square.) And you can read all about it in Susan Sontag’s “The Volcano Lover.”
Milt