America

I'm in America. My phone number is the same as it was before. If you've forgotten it then send me an email and we'll catch up.

I'm currently in Utah until Thursday or Friday.
28th-30th in Washington
4th-8th-ish in Sacramento

Rest of the time will be in Hillsboro. Give me a call, let's catch up.

Nassara Bye Bye!

“You get a strange feeling when you're about to leave a place, I told him, like you'll not only miss the people you love but you'll miss the person you are now at this time and this place, because you'll never be this way ever again.”

― Azar Nafisi, Reading Lolita in Tehran

This is the end. I have 19 days left as a Peace Corps volunteer. I've been thinking about this quote a lot lately and I really and truly believe it. I've changed a lot in my two years here, and I've never been happier, never been prouder of my work, never felt so useful, never built such rewarding relationships and I'm very worried that I'll lose many of the things I've become.

But I hope not, and I kinda doubt it.

It is a lingering fear though, everyone knows that America sucks the awesomeness out of people and they become ipad using zombies who only ever speak to other human beings through an electronic device. I don't really look forward to the days when all I'll have to talk about with people are the new movies, tv shows or current celebrity scandals rocking the nation.

However, I am really looking forward to a good hamburger and bacon and milkshakes and a real haircut, and feeling clean all the time and stairs and carpets and driving and going to a movie theater and bookstores and hamburgers and Chipotle...so I guess I'll be alright either way.

So, here we are. I'm visiting this boy that I love right now, and then I'll be back to site for a week and a half where I will burn many things and hopefully give even more things away and my house will become empty and I'll start saying goodbye to people and hopefully my neighbors will throw me a party and I'll definitely maybe cry and then I'll have a week in the capital filling out paperwork, seeing a doctor and a dentist and closing my bank account and getting rid of more stuff and then I get on a bus and it's Burkina bye-bye!

Before I get back to America, however, I will take advantage of the fact that I'm already on this far away continent and go on a little vacation to Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania where there will be safaris, and rafting and hiking and big fancy cities and bus rides and visiting friends and snorkeling and sitting on the beach. It's going to be awesome and I am very very very excited about it.

And then-America! I have a question for those of you who still read this though, I'm flying in to NYC at 8am on Wednesday and my connecting flight isn't until 7h30 that night. So, what should I do for a day in New York City? Or better yet, who that I know there wants to buy me lunch?

But for realz though, what should I do with a day? I don't think after 15 hours on an airplane I'll want to sit around an airport for another 12 hours. Give me some ideas internet. What should I do for a day in NYC, probably with a large hiking backpack unless I can leave that at the airport somehow?

Yes, it has been forever

It sure has been quite a long time since I've posted on here, sorry about that everyone. I've been busy and wasn't really thinking about all of you people in America who never contact me.
Let's do a recap in the most interesting way possible. Photo recap!

1)My lab got redone! Everyone was very excited about it and it quickly became non interesting.
2) I went to Ghana! Where we played a weird version of mancala and ate a lot.

 

3)My Dad and brother came to visit me! These kids loved them!

Here we are looking at elephants. I look weird.

My village fish market.

Richard with the Mevis.

4) Went back to Ghana and ate more food

5) All my students left and my work was essentially finished.
6) I finished my textbook and got it printed! (If you care to see a copy and can read french I can send you a pdf copy)
7) I'm currently teaching some summer computer classes to the profs at my school. They are really hilarious and super excited about calculating grades in excel

8) I turned a quarter century old! Crazy