The Sublime Account

Lessons from tri training

2011-05-02T17:42:00.001-07:00

Lesson number one from tri training came on day one: ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS bring conditioner when swimming at the gym pool. It looked like my cat had used my head as a ball of string. Not good.

Easter

2011-04-24T22:05:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter.

Another successful easter.

In other news. Sawyer killed a bird.

Fat but agile

2011-04-09T10:16:00.000-07:00

My cat killed two mice. He is 20 pounds and spends 23 hours a day sleeping and the other hour eating. I'm not sure how he managed to kill 2 mice. He actually eats his food, then eats the dogs food. He is pretty spectacular.

We believe, but cannot prove, that he is able to catch mice by luring them in while appearing to be dead. He then pounces. If he doesn't get them on the first pounce, it's over. He gets winded easily.

Flashbacks :0

2011-03-11T22:32:00.000-08:00

Went and saw Battlefield LA today. It was awesome.

Somehow, it reminded me of being in Israel and under fire. I seriously will never forget that. I remember driving back north to pick up our gear from the hotel. We were driving towards missiles. We weren't even wearing helmets. who does that? I was pretty freaked out. I was looking up in the sky to see if i could see them coming at us. About an hour before a missile had hit about 300 yards from our hotel.

Later, we went to Ceserea Phillipi to escape the onslaught from Hezbollah. I would wake up in the middle of the night hearing the military choppers circling the city, waiting to warn us of attacks. The loud noise would send me into a panic. the missiles that had hit near us had given me an acute fear of loud explosion like noises.

I know it wasn't that big of deal, but running down those stairs after the BOOM, running for my life to a bomb shelter, that was probably one of the scariest moments of my life. THe hotel shook with the force. Most American civilians don't get bombed. And I got bombed by a janky ass missile shot off a bbq in the back of some Lebenese pick up truck. but still....

I will always hate CNN for their coverage of that event. They blamed Israel. BS. B freaking S. Just cause Hezbollah aim blows and Israel can hit what they aim at. Hezbollah shot at me. They shot at civilians. They shot first. Hezbollah hides behind children. That's why there was casualities...they count on you being angry because kids die, so they hide behind them. they hide their weapons in schools. don't buy the lies.

musings

2010-06-18T20:58:00.001-07:00

I love life. I love the stars. I wish the real world was more like a fantasy novel. If it were, I would be a kender because I'm not afraid of anything and I love shiny objects. I try to be awake because Henry David Thoreau says that to be awake is to be alive. He says the mass of men live in quiet desperation. I have a hippy van and a dog named charley. I love my Thomas and believe in God. I'm very smart, and I know a lot of things, but the only real knowledge I've gained is that I am not wise.

I am naive. I believe that people are good and i always think people tell the truth. I am an easy target for salesmen, but i don't care. i'd rather be gullible than cynical. I believe in Karma but i don't think bad things happen to people JUST because they are bad. I mean, look at poor Job. I haven't figured out the algorithm yet, but karma definitely plays a role in the universe's justice system.

I lead a charmed life. I have received great love, witnessed of true sublime beauty, and felt a deep compassion for the suffering of humanity.

I hate holier than thou people more than pagans. I don't like smooshy apples. I want to believe in reincarnation for two reasons. 1. i think it would make the universe more fair, 2. i have too many things i want to do in life to complete in one lifetime.

When I was little i wanted to be a hobo. I wanted a stick with a little bundle wrapped in a handkerchief. I wanted to ride the trains and find work on farms with the seasons. I still think that would be a good life, but I think i'd have to live in the 1920's or 30's for it to work out.

I think God is beautiful and mysterious. I don't like when people try and subjugate God to reason and science, as if God must defend himself to our tiny world, like a human trying to explain his existence to an ant. Describing God, creation, and redemption is more poetry than physics, more art than equation. Sometimes I am afraid because there is so much I don't know.

I can't comprehend eternity. I can't even really think about it. It is more than I can bear. So i don't think about heaven or hell or what will happen to me when I die. I can't. I love God not because of eternity, but because I am humbled and and awe-struck that God allows me to know him in the terribly brief moment that is my life. I find it a great act of mercy that he even lets me try to worship.

I love Thomas because he is authentic. I love thomas because i am more myself with him than i am when i'm alone.

i don't need to be important, but i yearn to live fully, or as Thoreau says, "deliberately." I've seen true poverty and real sickness. I've seen a child die and a people suffer because they lived on the wrong continent. I've talked to AIDS patients who were abandoned by their families, I've danced with the oppressed, and I've lived in a hut. i've been to funerals of those who could not take the strain of another day. I've walked the halls of dirty, decrepit desolate hospitals. I've held mal-nurished children who cried for human touch. I've seen evil, twisted, horrible things. But, i'm an optimist and an idealist. In all the terribleness i've found beauty and joy in the enduring spirit of people all over the world.

Through natural disaster, war, oppression, famine, disease we live and we do the craziest thing of all, we bring little people into the world. Little people who will see the same awfulness and experience terrible heart ache. We must procreate because we believe there is something greater to life than suffering. that's cool.

2010-05-21T23:16:00.000-07:00

I told my dad today: "i think i'd be happier if i didn't know so much."

A slice of the past, circa 2005

2009-11-21T23:04:00.000-08:00

so much to say, so little time to write. 4% left on the old battery and i'm too lazy to go get the power cord. I need to write more....but i can' t now, so i will simply copy and paste something i wrote a long time ago and let it lurk.

“Quien es el otro?” my Spanish professor asked her small Pepperdine classroom our first morning of Latin American History in my last semester of my senior year. My nervous companions and I glanced at each other, wondering what she could possibly mean by “the other” and who would be brave enough to answer first. I, too nervous to voice my opinion in a language I still felt clumsy in, answered to myself silently: “everyone different from me.” I was embarrassed and ashamed that my answer was so stark, awkward, and ugly. I thought myself well educated in other cultures, I volunteered in schools with a high Hispanic population, I worked in hospitals in poor rural areas of Honduras, I lived in Italy, and I taught English in Brasil, how is it that I could still harbor such a thought. Just a few weeks earlier while building a house in San Felipe, Mexico I met a woman my same age, and we talked in broken Spanish and English, she told me of her three children and the trials of beginning a family at 14. She marveled at my stories of the university. And as I left a few days later, we hugged, and instead of seeing a poor uneducated girl, I saw a strong woman, holding and laughing with her youngest daughter; she had lived a life much different from mine, but not any less fulfilling or valuable. She had much to learn from me, but I knew that the real lesson that weekend was for me. As I sat in that classroom, I began to realize that no matter how many times I had accepted and loved and learned about new cultures, living in them, breathing them and becoming part of them, it is nearly impossible to lose your sense of fear that different is threatening. How do I overcome that? Everyday it must be done. Everyday when I feel that fear creep in, whether it is in my urban diverse city of Portland or while walking the halls of the malnutrition wards of Honduras, I stop myself; I remember the surprising similarities all of humanity has, and, then, I silently celebrate the differences. It is in that moment, a seemingly small and insignificant moment, that I conquer the fear of “the other,” and rejoice in the love of “the different.”

I think I should continue on this vein soon....seeing as i've now actually lived and breathed what it is like to be the other in a far away land full of strange people and strange customs with strange food.

gypsy on

Running way too far is strangely gratifying

2009-09-13T19:09:00.000-07:00

I finished my 21k trail run in Bend today! Thomas and I headed to Bend after work on friday and set up camp at Tumalo State Park that night. We had a great time and a awesome campsite right on the deschutes.

Playing around bend was a lot of fun, but I was nervous for Sunday's race. Finally i was on the start line. It was tough race in high altitude and a 1000 ft incline. I ran as hard as i could and almost died crossing the dang finishing line. I asked myself a lot why in the world I was doing this...but all in all i'm glad i did. The trail was beautiful.

My competition was steep the two winners of the race were elite athletes, all americans, etc. Serious business. Everyone at the race was crazy fit and serious runners, i felt way outta my league. I pretty much was outta my league, i finished 143 with a 2:01:15 time. Last in my division of 8 :) Don't feel too bad though, it was a national competition full of runners who have been running with elite competition their whole lives. i'm just glad i finished. :)

On the other hand, i think i'll be running 10k's for a year or so....these half marathons are just toooooo long!

Gypsy on

The never ending project

2009-09-07T16:47:00.000-07:00

Thomas and I spent the weekend unpacking boxes. I've been unpacking boxes for a month now, and it never seems to end. We made good progress, but there are still boxes left. ugh. Thomas also finished up my desk project for me. He did a great job painting and it is very cute. Only one more painting project left!

School starts tomorrow as well, and I'm sorta prepared. I still have work to do. I'll be going in early tomorrow to try and sort things out in my head before we get started. I only will see my students for about 15 minutes each period though, so that takes some pressure off. We don't REALLY get going until Wednesday. Phew! I think I'm just going to do a quick get-to-know you thing and an intro. I hate get-to-know yous, and I'm trying to find one that doesn't totally suck.

I'm so glad it is September, fall is just around the corner! Pretty soon I'll be putting up my Halloween decorations! Yippee!
Anyway, that's life for now. Not to exciting to tell, but exciting to live :) Hope all is well.

Gypsy On.

In case you were wondering ( i didn't make this up, i wish i were that cool)

2009-08-30T22:10:00.001-07:00

Things that go through the minds of 25-35 year olds:
-I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

-More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can
think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell
my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves
me.

-Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you
realize you're wrong.

-Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're
going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to
be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the
direction from which you came, you have to first do something like
check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to
yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're
crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

-I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

-Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know"
feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose
not to be friends with?

-Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't
work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically
fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all
know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards
or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

-There is a great need for sarcasm font.

-Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and
suddenly realize I had no idea what the f was going on when I first
saw it.

-I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually
becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting
90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's
laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little
bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the
only one who really, really gets it.

-How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

-I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than
take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

- I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear
your computer history if you die.

-The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to
finish a text.

- LOL has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".

- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

- Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron
test is absolutely petrifying.

- Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart",
all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod
and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

- I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up
to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

- Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in'
examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete
idiot.. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and
said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"

-What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?

- While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and
instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

- MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I
know how to get out of my neighborhood.

- Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the
person died.

- I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the
shower first and THEN turn on the water.

-Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty,
and you can wear them forever.

-I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

- Bad decisions make good stories

-Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their
profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got
the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if
I do!

- Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?

-If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring
would probably just be completely invisible.

-Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go
around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly
nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be
a problem....

-You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything
productive for the rest of the day.

-Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't
want to have to restart my collection.

-There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are
going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

-I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me
if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I
swear I did not make any changes to.

- "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

-I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people
watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will
they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't
watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and
leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'

-I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello?
Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and
goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone
and run away?

- I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not
seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

-When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she
hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light
internet stalking.

-I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle,
then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

-Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising
speed for pedophiles...

- As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers,
but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

-Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still
not know what time it is.

-It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

-I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to
answer when they call.

-Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.

-It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and
the link takes me to a video instead of text.

-I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they
drive behind obeys the speed limit.

-I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

-I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or
Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

-The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw
they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words,
someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think
about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people
eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by
myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard
before dinner.

-I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to
have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and
sticks when they've invented the lighter?

-That's enough, Nickelback.

- A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the
spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.

- Was learning cursive really necessary?

- I would like to officially coin the phrase 'catching the swine flu' to
be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with an
overweight woman. Example: "Dave caught the swine flu last night."

-Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys
in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey -
but I'd bet my a$s everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3
feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...

-My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day " Dad what would
happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?

School Days

2009-08-27T22:15:00.000-07:00

New teacher training started wednesday. complete waste of time, case you were wondering.

someone tell me when Ted Kennedy became legendary....he's a drunk misogynist. I don't approve.

gypsy on.

more and more hypocrisy

2009-08-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

I was thoroughly amused by the posters popping up in LA depicting Obama as Heath Ledger's Joker character from the Dark Knight. Regardless of whether I concurred with the poster creator's accusation of evil and socialism, I just thought it was a cool piece of political commentary crossed with art. Then I saw on Drudge today that some LA official is calling it "dangerous and mean spirited." Matt Drudge in his conservative glory then posted a link to a Vanity Fair piece from this time last year where "W" is depicted as the SAME character. Good job Matt, it is now my firm belief that no matter who the president is, someone in the media should hate them, just for the sake of a counter argument
Comments on the Vanity Fair piece included:

Great stuff from the talented Friedman (as always). As "agents of chaos" go, W's right up there with the best of 'em.
Brilliant and profound.
Poor Joker, he doesn't deserve this. Bush isn't good enough to wear his face

Interstingly, there are a few pages of new comments (probably people directed to the page by Drudge) making fairly asainine comments towards liberals and Obama. I'm so glad i don't toe a party line.

In fact, this year i've sunk into a sad rut of almost apathy. I've come to the firm belief that politicians are full of shit, and there isn't anyone of them that are worth a nickal. All the same, we must do the best with what we've got; my eternal optimism will keep me in the voting booths.

gypsy on

Who is John Galt?

2009-07-24T11:42:00.000-07:00

Launching back into the political arena, let's start with health care. Let's lay out why health care as is sucks:

1. Half of the bankruptcies filed in America are due to health care costs. Are you freaking kidding me? You have cancer and are dying and now you are bankrupt. Insult to injury, literally.

2. Our emergency rooms are stretched beyond capacity because people without health care have only one option when they are sick....ER's CANNOT turn you away.

3. The federal government, by 2015 will be spending 20% of its budget financing health care and there are still millions of people uninsured. The money the gov. spends on health care goes to Medicare, Medicaid, and subsidizing employer-sponsored health care. We, in fact, spend a larger percentage of our GDP on health care than any other industrialized country! Yet, somehow, one-sixth of Americans are uninsured.

4. The lack of preventative medicine, physicals, annual exams, checkups when problems BEGIN to arise, etc, cause people who are uninsured to only seek medical care when their conditions become full blown = $ The percentage of adults who receive recommended preventative care and screening tests according to guidelines for their age and sex is only 49%.

5. Rising cost of premiums due to administrative costs caused by our multi-payer system (31% of all costs), costly "defensive medicine"(expensive tests doctors run just to be sure they don't miss anything because they are scared of malpractice suits= 10% of health care costs), and a shift from non-profit to for-profit hosptials.

ugly ugly ugly. (I'm pretty sure most of this stuff is correct, but because the internet is a vast web of lies, do correct me if something is amiss.)

There is no question health care needs reform. None.

HOWEVER, i pretty much HATE Obama's idea. ya hate. it's a strong word, but i hate it. I saw Sicko, i was convinced for like 12 seconds...then i did some thinking, some research, and some listening. Here it is:

TIFFANY'S PLAN FOR WORLD DOMINATION, er strike that, HEALTH CARE REFORM AND ALONGSIDE THAT, WHY OBAMA'S PLAN SUCKS

ok actually i don't have a plan. i'm too lazy to come up with an actual plan. Oh, the things i could accomplish for world peace and prosperity if i'd only apply myself. I do have some ideas though, and maybe someone reading this will go ahead and get off their butt and make a plan. I, on the other hand, can only muster enough energy to rant and rave without even paying regard to proper punctuation.

The problem with health care is we have no freaking clue how much a heart transplant costs, how much a liver biopsy is, or the cost of an x-ray. Oh I comparison shop the hell outta soda, I can't tell you how many times i've looked at Ralphs' for coke and said "5.99 for a 12-pack?!?!?!? I can get that for 3 at Albertsons." When was the last time any of us shopped around for doctors? We don't even ASK how much a service will cost most of the time. It reminds me of little kids playing pretend bakery: Q: "How much for a loaf of bread mister baker" A: "1000 dollars please" ;;child hands over a wad of imaginary money;; There is NO accountability whatsoever because we, speaking to those of us with insurance, don't care how much it costs cause we don't pay it!

Let's let some good ol' free market capitalism run rampant for once! OOO no not in health care, that'd be evil! Wrong, case in point....Lasik. Lasik used to cost an arm and a leg and it was "scary" cause lasers in your eye in 1995 were less than credible. Now look! Lasik is cheap, quick, and virtually risk free. Why? cause your insurance doesn't cover it and free market ruled. Companies found ways to do it cheaper and faster to turn a buck...and it worked, again, like it always does.

Next problem, insurance covers everything. How stupid is that???? I believe it was good ol' John Stosel that pointed this problem out. What if we gave everybody grocery insurance. Oh it sure would be lovely beacuse then everyone could have food....but the vast majority of americans would just get straight crap. We'd buy food we didn't need, let food rot in our fridge, and once again, stop checking prices...which, in turn would raise the cost of groceries. It's bad economics, and i didn't even take that class.

On top of that, Obama's plan wants all the rich people to pay for my health care. This entitlement garbage makes me sick. If you want to raise taxes for your crappy socialized medicine make everyone pay. Flat tax the bitch. No matter what you make, everyone pays 4% surtax or whatever. At least make it LOOK like you aren't a jealous rapacious parasite. Now we can go to the doctor and let rich people pay the bill...now I REALLY don't need to do a price check.

Don't get me wrong no one....NO ONE...should go bankrupt because of chemo, transplants, or ongoing prescriptions for chronic health conditions. That's just mean. I'm all for covering the "big stuff" (for the love of all that is holy don't make me defend that statement. I don't know how to define big stuff, like i said toooooo lazy to make a plan.) But little Suzy and hypochondriac Phil need to stop going to the doctor everytime their snot looks a little yellow. It's a flippin cold, have some soup and quit whining for antibiotics, you just raised my premium 10 bucks jack ass.

I think Stosel got in right in his health care special...health savings accounts. Look them up here. I think the benefit is fairly obvious. It addresses all the above problems. It lowers premiums because you have high deductible plans, it makes doctors and hospitals accountable to prices, and, GOD FORBID, allows free market to inch it's way into the health care business, asking docs and hospitals to do it better for cheaper. Sounds like the ticket to me.

Ya ya ya, i didn't cover everything, buy i'm tired of talking about this. Maybe i'm tired because of thyroid problem. I'll call my doctor, it only costs me 40 bucks for him to run a whole battery of tests....i'm covered.

2 Posts in One Day!

2009-07-13T11:15:00.000-07:00

Original message: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.
in no particular order:

1) 1984 -- George Orwell
2) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance -- Robert M. Pirsig
3) East of Eden -- John Steinbeck
4) Cry, the Beloved Country -- Alan Paton
5) Joanna Baille's Plays on the Passions
6) The Humanism of Existentialism (okay that's an essay, but still) --Jean Paul Sartre
7) Shame of the Nation -- Jonathon Kozol
8) Harry Potter (i'm not proud of it) -- JK Rowling
9) The Republic -- Plato
10) Fear and Trembling -- Kierkegaard
11) Ines of my Soul -- Isabel Allende
12) On Walden -- Henry David Thoreau
13) The Divine Comedy -- Dante
14) Summa Theologica (not the whole thing.....just the parts i read) -- Thomas Aquinas
15) Antigone -- Jean Anouilh

My new life

2009-07-13T09:36:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! It's only been a million years, I know. I'm sorry! Let me catch you up....

I moved back to California and didn't get a job cause california is broke. SOOOOOOOOOOO Thomas moved in with his mom and I moved in with my parents because: A) Living with your parents makes you a rockstar if you are older than 25 and B) We need to pay off some debt and C) We don't want to move somewhere when I don't have a job (OR DIDN'T....ooooooo cliffhanger, keep reading....)

So here we are living with our gracious parental units who are putting up with our sloven ways again. I moved to Oregon (ahh i miss thomas) and started working at the ol' law firm again. BUT a little ray of sunshine happened upon me last week and I was offered a job at Hillsboro High School! WOO FREAKIN HOO! I'm extremely excited beacuse this means i don't have to live with my parents anymore, not that that is embarrassing...it's totally cool.... Anyway, things are in the works, Thomas will hopefully be up here soon taking classes at PCC and training people. But the ETA on that is still out.

Moral of the story, if you live in Portland and you know me....i live here now, will you be my friend.

PS Have I mentioned I'm engaged? YAY!

Ameriki

2009-03-19T15:51:00.001-07:00

If you haven't heard I'm back in America! I left Mali because the university went on strike AGAIN and it doesn't look like they are even going to finish the year. So, I was tired of tooling around africa with no purpose wasting taxpayer money....so i'm back in Cali.

it's good to be home :) Now....to find a job....

Gypsy On!

Debbie Downer the Drama Diva

2009-02-20T14:12:00.000-08:00

Ya i was. sorry. it happens.

everything will be fine no matter what. i was being negative....

if school never starts and i go home then YAY i get to be with my family and thomas.

if school starts and i get to stay then YAY i get to teach in Africa.

good lord. somebody give me some paxil. what i really needed was a stiff drink!

loves!
gypsy on.

mornings are always brighter

2009-02-20T01:03:00.000-08:00

it'll be fine. it always is. :)

Well I been here before, sat on the floor in a gray gray mood

2009-02-19T16:18:00.000-08:00

All i got is a bit of gray tune. not all hope is lost. school could begin anytime. but sometimes the world just turns gray.

Week 3 of strike begins next week. I've been here what? 7months and a couple weeks, check the turtle at the top. I've worked at the job I came to do for 4 weeks. 4.

My heart feels torn in two. Do i stay and hope? Or do i go home to people I love and (possibly) a job in a school that really needs me?

I know i'm worth more than what i'm doing here. i know that thomas is more important than sitting around waiting for a jacked up education system to MAYBE right itself so i can do something. but letting go of a dream and tossing aside a passion that led you to leave all you knew and loved is probably the most difficult thing i've ever been faced with.

ya pride is some of it. quitting, ugh. giving up? these are not words i am used to uttering. i've never quit anything...i've never given up half way through. but it seems that all the available evidence says to abandon ship.

i guess i know what it's like to be the captain of a doomed ship, to lead a labor of love, and as it sinks you just can't bring yourself to leave. you can't pull your feet from the deck because part of your soul lies within the very wood and steel that make up the boat.

so. i'm waiting. i'm waiting because i can't tear myself away, because i sacrificed so much with such high hopes. it hasn't been a complete failure; i've had some brilliant shining moments, but thats probably why this is so hard. i want more than anything to lay this down and run to thomas and my family and a new job but it takes time to complete the messy, incomplete, and impossible job of extracting your soul from your passion.

so family, thomas....patience please. i just need to make sure it's lost. i need to stay a while just in case she rights herself

Valentines Day

2009-02-16T06:35:00.000-08:00

Had as lovely as a valentines as possible. Moms sent a nice package of goodies and gifts (thanks). Thomas and I talked on skype and AIM and watched a movie "together" - Prince Caspian. It was pretty good, i was entertained.

Normally on Valentines Thomas and I would have cooked a grand meal and rented a movie. Ya i know, SOOO exciting. But the thing is it's a lot cheaper than going out and to a movie. For 10 bucks get a nice bottle of wine/champagne from Trader Joes, make a delicous chicken or pasta dish and snuggle up for a night on the couch. Heaven if you ask me. Especially because i LOVE to cook. Ice cream would of course be included, sugar cookies, brownies, and some sort of delicious pancake breakfast earlier in the morning.

In order to make myself feel better at being mostly alone on Valentines, I made a spectacular dinner of pesto parmesan chicken with spaghetti. It truly was the best thing i've had in months (thanks to John Richard for the pesto parmesan crackers).

Still waiting for news on the strike....slowly losing patience. Let's just say now isn't a good time to send mail, as by the time it reaches Mali there may be no recipient on the others side.......

gypsy on.

and so it goes

2009-02-12T04:51:00.000-08:00

the strike was supposed to be over today.....not so much. now they are saying classes will be back on next week. sigh. all my feelings of usefulness are beginning to dwindle.

in all honesty, however, if i were a student i would strike too. Here is the situation:

The government has restricted professors to 10 hours of overtime. Generally speaking professor work 30 to 40 hours of overtime. So that is 20-30 hours of classes that dont' have teachers. This translates to classroom full of students that don't have professors. This is also why the freshmen haven't started school.

It's a bad situation caused by the fact there are 6000 students in the English FLASH program and not even near enough teachers. I sure hope this clears up soon, though.

Gypsy On

For my momma

2009-02-10T07:52:00.000-08:00

Well we had 4 weeks of class. That's a lot of work for Malians.....so the students went on strike. It is supposed to end and classes resume on thursday....we'll seeeee.

The GREAT news is that we bought Thomas' ticket today. I'm literally dancing around my room.

Momma sent me some valentine's candy and goodies. thanks mom. new valentine socks and undies. i have an unnatural obsession with holiday socks and undies. i just really enjoy the festive britches....makes me feel celebratory to have hearts/candycanes/pumpkins/four leaf clovers/etc. on my dereier. i can't spell in french...obviously. i can speak it, barely, but i can't spell. when i learned it here in Mali they only taught us orally, so we can't write in french at all. it's like being illiterate, kinda weird. Also included in said package was the prettiest apron i've ever owned. i dont' think i want to wear it in this country and ruin it!

Have i mentioned people carry goats on their motorcycles in the city? it's funny.

Racism is alive and well in Mali. For instance Malians insist that only people from the ivory coast and ghana steal things, never Malians. They also make white people pay more for everything. In addition they love yelling out peoples races as a way of getting their attention examples: Hey Chinese guy (to any and all asians no matter what their nationality is), Hey White person, usually followed by "give me money," sooooo whenever i hear tubob i say "oui farofin" which means "What black person?" can you imagine saying any of that in the US? like hey mexican come here. or hey black person where are you going? Joining the peace corps made me racist hahahaha.

Other ways the peace corps has made me a degenerate:
1. i litter now without any qualms. there is no garbage service in mali, so you just throw your trash in the gutter.
2. i have little to no sympathy for most beggers. i know ME who gives money away like it's going out of style. i walk past people 100x a day who ask me for money. i had to stop paying attention. now just old blind people get money.
3. i throw rocks at roosters. they are loud and they wake me up. it's not a deal where i live now, but in sanankoroba i had no qualms about heaving objects at roosters/donkeys/goats
4. i lie. i tell malians i'm going to work all the time when really i'm not. i just don't want to have to figure out how to say wherever my real destination is in French or bambara. work is easy to say and remember
5. i may have, unwittingly, encouraged revolution in my Friday night class at the catholic center. We were discussing foreign aid and it's affect on Africa and Mali. Many of my students feel foreign aid makes it difficult for African nations to achieve independence and it actually increases their dependence. they spoke of corruption, laziness, and the need for a stronger government. the word revolution was used more than once......i let it slide with no comment since i'm not supposed to insight war as a volunteer.

Gypsy on

From the Internet Monk

2009-02-07T12:35:00.000-08:00

I was only going to link you to this post by the internetmonk.com, but i knew some people would be too lazy to click on it and read it. So i copied and pasted....this brings out everything that is wrong with the cultural war Christians tend to wage. The monk and i don't always agree, but this stuff is brilliant. The emphasis in italics is added by me. www.internetmonk.com

How are you going to fight that fight?

February 7th, 2009 by iMonk

Trevin Wax and many, many other blogs have reported the story of the death of a baby born alive during an abortion procedure in Florida.

Trevin calls this the pinnacle of wickedness, and no rational, morally sensitive person would disagree. But we don’t live in a rational or morally coherent age.

In the very same week, the President said, at the National Prayer Breakfast, that no one believes in a God who approves of the death of the innocent. Plenty of commentators have pointed out the irony of that statement as well.

But I’m increasingly frustrated by my fellow Christians on this issue. Let me tell you why.

1) There are massive amounts of talk. Constant, never ending talk on radio, blogs and television. But it’s not persuasive talk. It’s the speech of moral outrage, and that is appropriate at times. But it is not the talk of cultural change, mind-changing or policy change. It is the kind of talk that convinces the already convinced, but which makes the unconvinced feel cornered and yelled at.

2) There is an increasing undertone of of “anything goes” in the rhetoric of many Christians. Certainly, this issue will bring about a lot of emotion and strong feelings. But does “anything go?” Can you say anything and do anything without regard for boundaries and restraint? What’s our ethical responsibility when we respond?

3) The endless escalation of this issue will result in violence, either verbal or physical. Unstable people, angered by outrageous acts that inflame their emotions over their reason, will perpetuate a cycle of violence. Christians bear responsibility, in my view, to find a way to focus without creating the beginnings of a cycle of vengeance and revenge in the minds of those for whom violence is justified in this cause.

4) The civil rights struggle should be a great teacher for Christians who are pro-life, but I see little evidence of it. Dr. King and others had a sophisticated response to a deeply ingrained culture of hate: they out-loved, out-risked, and out-suffered them. Yes, there was rhetoric. Yes, there were speeches. But the civil rights struggle was a personal struggle won by people putting themselves on the line and saying “we will quietly, stubbornly, lovingly, sacrificially defeat this evil.” I don’t see leaders emulating or imitating this model. It’s just more and more and more outrage, and little conversion.

5) The Amish school tragedy has haunted many Christians. Are we prepared to respond to moral outrage and violence with greater love and greater forgiveness? Do we even have it in us? If such an act had happened in Christian schools, would there have been angry mobs outside the jails demanding a violent revenge? The lessons in the pro-life struggle are obvious: can we love those who perpetuate this evil? I can take you to blogs right now that will say we should not love them and that we have no responsibility to love them. Our response, according to these discernabloggers, should be hate and retaliation in the name of protecting the innocent.

6) Do we want a fight, or do we want to save lives? Do we want a fight, or do we want to persuade? Do we want a fight, or do we want to humble ourselves as a Christian community and admit how many of those abortions are our daughters? How many are of women living within shouting distance of our churches?

7) Is there a consistent pro-life response among American Christians? Are we outraged by children starving in Africa? Are we outraged by the innocents suffering in war? Are we outraged by child soldiers and the trafficking in sex slaves? Are we outraged by child abuse, sexual abuse and preventable disease? Are we willing to think in terms beyond the clear, outrageously evil stories such as the throw-a-way baby in Florida to see the pro-life issues all around us?

8] Is there a response to the pro-life cause that pays the bills? Writes legislation that makes slow, compromising progress? Is there a response that creates alternatives for women likely to seek abortion? Is there a willingness to risk family embarrassment to deal with our daughters’ pregnancies in ways other than a quick procedure? Can Christians, pastors, churches and ministries make a response that is practical, on the ground and real world, or is the main appeal here the opportunity to be outraged, angry and to keep on shouting?

My students and fellow adult Christians are almost universally pro-life. Some may have marched or answered phones in a crisis pregnancy clinic. I don’t know. Most of what I see is a lot of anger. Shocking pictures. An almost visceral, emotional ranting to release frustration, but little actual engagement or even understanding of the issue beyond what they emotionally hate.

I want to see more. I want a deeper, more effective response. I don’t want to just be angry. I want to see the problem addressed, minds changed, dialogue happen, truth told and people loved. I want to see progress by slow compromise if that is all we can get for now. I want to see Christians consistently applying the pro-life position to all of life.

The scripture says that the anger of man doesn’t create the righteousness of God. The way of love is far more difficult, but it is not optional for the follower of Jesus.

the grind 59 days

2009-02-04T11:50:00.000-08:00

a bit of an update:

School is going along fine. i'm really enjoying teaching there. some of my classes have yet to start due to a problem registering freshmen....there are always problems in mali! But the classes i am teaching are a lot of fun and the job on the whole is quite fulfilling. YAY! i was so worried school would start and i'd still feel bored or useless, so it is a relief that i love my job so much.

british studies class is studying the norman conquest and continuing to read beowulf. it's interesting because my students are constantly asking me why the anglo saxons fought the kelts, why the normans invaded england, why tribes fought each other. i feel like in america i wouldn't get these questions. we americans know why people fight, they fight for land, power, money etc. malians seem to be a bit baffled why someone would start a war.

my conversation class is talking about a different important global issue each week. i'm not sure what to have them discuss this saturday, but i'm sure i'll come up with something interesting before then. last week we talked about Barak Obama. my students, predictably, are in love with barak. they hate the wars in iraq and afghanistan, and they feel like america is targeting islam in those wars. they are also quite concerned about america's financial situation because they know that america's economy directly affects the world economy. we also discussed foregin aid. i think it would be interesting to have a debate on whether or not foreign aid helps or hurts developing countries. there is a lot of evidence to suggest it simply creates a dependency..... if you have any good topic ideas please let me know. this class is open to anything, we merely talk for 2 hours on whatever subject strikes me as interesting!

I am also working at a catholic youth center once a week teaching a two hour english conversation class to 15 students. most of them are young adults and older people. this is even more fun than the university because the students are so excited to learn and i have time to talk with each of them individually, unlike my 100 students per class at the university. Last week we had a rather rousing discussion on the problems that are facing Mali. They brought up poverty, bad governance, unemployment, education, the rebels in the north, and many more. bright group of folks. i look forward to hearing their opinion on several issues.

hot season is here. well, not here, but it is certainly coming. the cool mornings are no longer that cool and the days are back in the 100's. i miss 80 degrees days and 60 degree mornings already. but the good news is mango season is here! i love mangos! it's the one redeeming quality of hot season.

still counting down days til europe!

gypsy on

64 Days

2009-01-29T23:18:00.000-08:00

Danielle tagged me and I'm sucker so.....
Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I still have a baby tooth.

2. I have to limit my peanut butter intake (i only eat natural btw) because i have a tendency to eat an entire jar with a spoon in a matter of days

3. I hate when people run their windshield wipers too fast.

4. I've never done a single illegal drug. I took my DARE pledge very seriously.

5. I like holiday themed socks and underwear A LOT

6. I can't spell. The only reason I don't have documents chock full of misspellings is because i read a lot and when i misspell something it just "looks wrong" and then i can figure it out.

7. I applied to NYU as a microbiology major and Pepperdine as an English major (ya i applied to two schools and thats it.) I ended up with the degree I have today because my parents thought NYU was really far away and I was happy to go to a school on the beach.

8. I don't like donuts, ranch dressing, mayonaise, or sour cream

9. Seriously this is only number 9? when i get married i only want a wedding band, no diamond, emerald, or anything else

10. I get scared easily. Scary movies scare me, i get scared in the car when my arm is out the window cause i imagine the car flipping over and then i'll only have one arm, I imagine falling off my bike and into the Niger when i cross the bridges, i think about planes crashing as soon as i get on one.....i think the root of all this fear is an extremely over active imagination. I deal though, and it generally doesn't affect me unless i'm sleeping in a house by myself....then i have nights when i can't sleep because along with the imagination comes a lot of dreams, some scary.

11. I really love disneyland/disneyworld. I know i shouldn't, but they make me really happy. I hate the "princess" thing and girls should not want to be flippin snow white they should want to be astronauts but there is nothing like main street holding hands with thomas. the place really is magic

12. speaking of holding hands, i love farmer's markets. holding hands and fruit go together.

13. I don't believe God has a "plan for my life" uh oh, i just scared my mom and made several people uncomfortable...sorry! hehe

14. I love traveling. not the kind where you go for a week and be a tourist, the kind where you are "in it" and live the culture. whether it's mali, italy, honduras, wyoming, maine, DC, mexico...etc. i don't just want to visit i want to live there....

15. I really really really wish i believed in reincarnation. i wanna be reincarnated.

16. I listen to This American Life every week ( i can podcast it)

17. Peace Corps is by far the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.

18. If i won the lottery i would go to school and get like 30 Bachelors degrees. Probaby a couple masters and MAYBE a PhD....mostly i like broad spectrum education though.

19. I don't like my belly button touched. I don't even touch it. Isn't that weird?

20. I "know" (i use the term loosely) seven languages. English, Spanish, Italian, Portugease, French, Hebrew, Bambara. Again....i use the word know, but it's more like I'm FAMILIAR with seven languages

21. I'm really ridiculously in love with thomas.

22. My favorite UFC fighter is George St. Pierre.

23. I love to cook and i love wearing aprons.

24. I love the zoo but i have inner conflict because i dont' think they should exist....going to the zoo is one of my vices.

25. I love to read philosophy, LOVE. Like nerdy would-rather-read-philosophy-than-go-party kind of love.

If you have a blog and you read this consider yourself tagged since i'm pretty sure less than 25 people read this lol

66 Days

2009-01-28T14:32:00.000-08:00

66 Days til I meet my Mom, Dad, and Thomas in AMSTERDAM! WOOT! ya you heard it here first i'm actually going to see that handsome man i call mine AND my awesome parents. I'm so excited!

Classes are going well, except there are still no freshmen. But all the same my British Studies class is plowing through the material. The major problem i'm running into is that they refuse to ask questions when they don't understand. I will say

"do you know what an ox is?"
--blank stares-
"okay if you don't know a word in the text be sure and ask. An ox is similar to a cow"
-oooooo nodding heads but blank stares--
I get suspicious here and say - "Do you know what a cow is?"
--blank stares--
"I don't know the word in french, but in bambara it is Misi"
--finally they get it, and they laugh cause their white american professor knows bambara-

First they don't ask when they don't understand originally, then they don't ask when they don't understand the answer....it's an uphill battle. But it's still a lot of fun, and I'm really enjoying my time with my students.

The kittens are getting big and soon at least one will be leaving the house :( I've got to call the vet and get their shots and get Phoebe fixed and maybe Gizmo (i want to keep her....) They are a lot of fun and have a grand time playing in my room every morning and evening.

Hope you are all well, go eat something good and American today and dedicate it to me :)

Gypsy on!

I drew a Viking helmet for my class

2009-01-22T06:59:00.000-08:00

Classes are off and running....as long as you aren't a freshman. Freshman are apparently still registering and that's why I no one has shown up to my freshmen classes.

My British Studies class met for the fourth time today and is going just swimmingly. We are studying the Anglo Saxons and their role in British history. Our piece of literature for the period is Beowulf. We are reading a modern translation since the language is quite difficult in the normal translations.

My student's seem to be enjoying it and have asked several good questions prompting me to draw swords, helmets with bull horns on them, and maps of europe on the blackboard. Although my artistry is poor, it seems they are really learning the material.

I love teaching :)

As for Obama's inauguration, we watched in style at the American Club and toasted the president with pizza and soft drinks (and some had beer).

I don't know if I believe in Obama's Messianic qualities espoused by the devout left, but i do know that "Hope is a good thing, perhaps the best of things" and America has some serious collective hope right now. That kind of hope can create change all by itself. I hope.

Gypsy On!

2009-01-18T11:36:00.000-08:00

SCHOOLS IN! Woot!

It's been a ROUGH couple months. I was feeling really really useless over here. But school has finally started, and I'm so excited.

Classes began on Monday, but my first class met Wednesday. Usually I will have about 135 students per class (I have 5 classes). I was a little depressed when half my classes didn't show up and the other half only had about 15 people in them each. BUT...apparently this is fairly normal for the first week and I expect attendance to be up next week.

I have 3 American Studies classes, 1 British Studies class, and 1 Conversation class.

My American Studies classes will begin with exploration and end around Western Expansion. We will look at history through the lense of literature...or so is my plan.

British Studies is still kind of in the air. We were originally told to begin with the middle ages-renaissance....but that may have been a mistake, still waiting to hear. In the meantime my class has not read Beowulf, so we'll begin there.

Conversation is a wide open class. I can talk about anything at all. I may use this venue to get students talking about civil rights, women's rights, religion and government, and development.

I really hope we don't strike anytime soon......but I've already heard there are some problems on the horizon........we'll wait and see :)

In the meantime, i'm lesson planning!

Gypsy On!

2009-01-16T10:18:00.001-08:00

I've got the most serious craving ever for Marrakesh in Portland.

When I get home I'm making a beeline for this.

ya ya i'm teaching, i'll tell you about it tomorrow when my first week is "officially" over ;)

gypsy on

6 months on the nose

2009-01-11T14:08:00.001-08:00

Can you stinking believe it? I start teaching this week. Classes start tomorrow and my first class is wednesday. I teach wed-sat, American Studies, British Lit, and Conversation.

Holy smokes i better write a lesson plan!!!!!!!!!!!

;) wish me luck.

ps if you have 2500 lying around looking for something to do....thomas needs a ticket to africa. it's not a noble cause, but it would make me very happy...wait in princess bride true love is the most noble cause of all. ;) hehe...for real though 2500 dollars to come to this hole? lame. we're working on it...

2009-01-09T06:06:00.000-08:00

True...very very true

Holiday Weight?

2009-01-06T01:36:00.000-08:00

Thomas is training on the web now. It's pretty cool...he has me on a program too. It's super affordable and he's an amazing trainer....not just cause i love him, he helped me lose 10% of my body fat BEFORE we even dated. Check it out here

Happy New Years

2009-01-02T02:30:00.000-08:00

The cats are getting huge! So cute. New Years Pics here

New Years was fun...for New Years. It's one of my least favorite holidays of the year. It ends the holiday "season" and it's so anti-climactic. But it was as good as I could ask for. I went with my pilot friends to their boss' house for good south african sausage (to die for) and champagne. We lit some fireworks and just had a nice relaxing evening.

In other news, Thomas sent me the BEST PACKAGE EVER! Okay sorry to everyone else that sent me one, I'm fairly biased being I'm in love with him, but still it was great. I got whipped honey, my favorite cookies, jelly beans, gummy bears, and the BEST CD EVER. It's a movie cd of his trip to portland and a few of my favorite people starred. I got to see Andrew running around the pumpkin patch, my mom laughing with thomas, and my dad wondering about with goats. Not to mention my Nathan and Kristi's beautiful shining happy faces :)

It really made my day. My month, actually...possibly even more than that. Thanks sweetheart, love you.

In other news, school might actually start. They've started registering students and I was told that perhaps in 2 weeks we'd actually begin. I'm translating that to within the month. I'm really hoping. I love climbing, playing sports, cooking and hanging out with my friends....but life seems to lack much meaning lately. Could really use a purpose.

Gypsy on!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T16:01:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope yours was full of love and fun!

My Christmas was pretty great. I spent Christmas eve day baking up a storm. Started with caramel apple pancakes, then i made sugar cookies to give out as gifts to friends, next i made pizza with friends for dinner (continuing the bailey tradition), and finally i made chocolate peanut butter cookies.

Thomas and I spent the evening together on Skype and AIM opening presents and being together. It was lovely. I got him Cloverfiield on Blue-ray and i downloaded it to my computer so we both watched it at the same time and got to talk over AIM while we watched! It was almost like being in the same room! We even made cocoa together (i know i know you are gagging on the cuteness).

Christmas morning I spent with friends at a champagne breakfast, then i moved on to the Deputy Ambassador's house for a fabulous lunch. Finally, I ended the day with friends again watching a movie.

All in all a great holiday. Hope yours was full of love and happiness!

I'll post pictures soon :) Miss you!

I'll be Home for Christmas if only in my Dreams

2008-12-18T01:34:00.000-08:00

I haven't forgotten about you faithful few who read this. I'm just fairly boring these days.

I listen to a lot of Christmas music, read, exercise, talk to neighbors, and teach a couple days a week. That's about it. And I figure you've heard enough about all that.

To be honest, I've heard enough about all that. I'm getting rather tired of waiting for school to start. We're hoping for January, but with strikes and general Malian systems it's hard to say if that will happen.

Can I just say that Development work is frustrating and nothing like I imagined.

Merry Tabaski!

2008-12-09T01:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the Muslim festival Tabaski. Tabaski is probably the most important day in Islam. It celebrates the day Abraham took Ishmael (note this is where the major split between Islam and the Jewish/Christian tradition happens) to Mt. Moriah to sacrifice him. God spares Ishmael though by providing a ram.

So what do we do on Tabaski? We eat a lot of sheep. I probably ate my weight in sheep. My friend Racy was gracious enough to let me tag along with her to attend two parties. The first was a traditional Malian fete. They killed FIVE sheep. Our first course was the liver and heart, and, i'll be honest, it was my favorite thing i ate all day. It was soooo (surprisingly) good. Then we followed that up with sheep meat galore with some fonio (some sort of grainish thing that's like cous cous).

After that party we went to the head of the Millenium Challange Corporation (google it) and had a nice dinner there. It was mostly americans and embassy folk (even the Deputy Chief of Missions was there). It was lovely and the food was delicious, but I was still full. I did, however, indulge in a large bowl of fruit and some orange juice.

There are a couple pictures floating about, but they weren't on my camera, if i can locate them I will put them up and let you know.

So Happy Tabaski even if it is a Heathen holiday ;) bwhahahahahaha!

Gypsy on!

All I Want for Christmas

2008-12-06T13:12:00.000-08:00

Phoebe had 3 babies! It was a serious endeavour which I observed with fascination and a bit of disgust. But now that they are licked clean, they're pretty dang cute. The gray and white one is my favorite. See them here

Here is my Christmas List:

1. Thomas to appear under my little tree (thanks for sending one momma and daddy) ... (oh i mean thanks for sending a tree, not a thomas lol)
2. A box of Peanut Butter Captain Crunch
3. A decent amount of iron in my blood
4. A new blanket, it's flippin cold here...60 is the new 30 when you are used to 100.
5. Hot shower. Scratch that, Hot Bath.
6. A night out in the ragin city of Agoura Hills with my beloved. Maybe some Mongolian BBQ followed by a rented movie and chocolate chip cookies with ice cream on the couch. Okay so that's mostly a night in, but still...i like being home.
7. A complete and full understanding of both Bambara and French
8. A hug from my mommy
9. One day in Pioneer Place. Yes I hate shopping, but I love Christmastime at the mall.
10. An engagement ring. I mean what? tee hee. Delivered by #1 please.
11. A calorie free, yet equally tasty, form of peanut butter, chocolate, and ice cream...on the double!
12. A kiss from my nephew
13. A hoody
14. A new pair of tennis shoes
15. A pumice stone
16. An automated retractable mosquito net. The stupid thing is annoying to put up and down up and down.
17. Books, DVD's and DVD's of TV shows. I have a lot of time to kill.
18. Christmas dinner with everyone. yes everyone, if you read this then it probably means you too. unless you are a creeper, then you are not included.

Hmm that's all i can think of now. To be honest the things I REALLY want for christmas all revolve around spending time with people i miss. Somedays I wonder why I left all the goodness i had to come to this crazy upside down place. It is comforting to know that things I miss aren't things at all, they're people...and the occasional chinese, mexican, or italian dish.

Loves you guys
gypsy on

Updates

2008-12-02T09:08:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone

I've been neglecting you. Deepest apologies.

About two weeks ago I went on a Bike Tour from the regional capital of Koulikoro to a village called Banamba (I think that's spelled right). Twelve of us PCV's and 2 Malian friends biked from village to village doing skits and informational sessions on HIV/AIDS awareness as well as spreading the spirit of Global Entrepeneurship Week. Small Business Development is a major focus of Peace Corps Mali, and we spent time with Malian Youth helping them realize the oppurtunities for new businesses in their country. We also tried to bring up topics as simple as accounting and expenditure tracking within existing businesses (apparently many Malian business don't even do simple accounting).

I had a great time working on my Bambara and learning what it is like to live in "en Brusse" in Mali (en Brusse means in the bush). One village we went to even threw us a big party with traditional African dancing complete with scary masks and a person pretending to be a gorilla, very national geographic-esque. I will get pics up soon.

I can't hardly believe it's already december! I received several packages from my parents full of chistmas happiness and now my room smells and looks like christmas. It really lifted my spirits! I'm so blessed to have such great family!

Anyway, I hope you are enjoying the bustle of the holiday season! I sure miss it!

Eat Taco Bell for me and then tell me how good it was.

Gypsy On!

Thanksgiving Musings

2008-11-27T13:09:00.000-08:00

It doesn't seem much like Thanksgiving around here. There are no Hallmark cards, no turkey decorations, no supermarket endcaps filled with Stove-Top, and certainly no overzealous department stores with Christmas decorations up. The weather isn't even right, 98 degrees just isn't holiday weather.

I remember being in the 1st grade Thanksgiving Pageant at school. I was a pilgrim woman and my line, along with the rest of the pilgrim women, was "Mercy Me, Mercy Me!" (This, when I think about it, makes me wonder what kind of education I was receiving, as, if I remember correctly, the men had an equally sexist line espousing their bravery as a foil to the womens' lack there of. But I digress...) I also remember that I was quite upset I wasn't an Indian woman. Indian women had much cooler costumes. This was also the year I learned the story of Thanksgiving. Oh, yes, I know I heard the G rated story that left out the many atrocities and near genocide of Native Americans. Instead, I heard about the Mayflower, and the kind Indian named Squanto who helped the Puritans survive in their new home and taught them to make popcorn. Since 1st grade, I've rarely thought about the origins of Thanksgiving. It's more or less been a holiday to eat a lot with people you are related to (which for the Bailey's is a common event that doesn't even require an official holiday!)

I was thinking earlier today, as I dined on some delicious Thanksgiving fare at the Ambassador to Mali's house, about that first Thanksgiving. I didn't think about the Indians, the atrocities, or even the food though. I thought about the Pilgrims. I thought about what it would have been like to be far from home, to be in a foreign landscape, listening to an Indian tongue, trying to eek out a living in a world which is hostile simply because it is unfamiliar. Perhaps, for the first time in my life, I'm beginning to realize why holidays were invented at all.

As a stranger in a strange land I completely understand the need to to celebrate. Tonight as I sat in the home of the American Ambassador (our gracious host for the evening's festivities) I felt a kinship with a group of people who left home in search of a different life. They left to gain freedom, and in our most idealist of moments we PCV's leave home to give (and gain in our own transient way) freedom. Even on the best days in a foreign country you can't help but think about the home you left, the people you miss, the food you ate, and the security afforded by being surrounded by the familiar. Maybe we create these celebrations as a way of recreating the familiarity that we left behind. For just a moment we can join together as a "family" and momentarily shrug off our lonliness in favor of unity. So even with the warm weather and sorry lack of parades, Thanksgiving somehow manages to make me feel at home.

Enjoy Black Friday!

Gypsy on!

Birthdays, Hashes, and Thanksgiving

2008-11-13T00:06:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone

I had a great Birthday! I spent the day out with my friend Joost marking a trail for the Hash. Then, after the hash we had delicious food (pizza and pasta salad) with about 60 people! I have pictures!!!! Click Here

I also got SIX packages earlier this week (so my birthday basically is lasting all month hehehe). Thanks to my mom for all the awesome stuff and thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for sending me such great care packages!

The holidays are getting closer and I'm starting to make some pretty fun plans to celebrate. Thanksgiving I'll be travelling south to Sikasso to celebrate American style with a bunch of other Peace Corps Volunteers. Then for Christmas I'll probably go to the Dogon country, again to meet up with lots of other volunteers. If Thomas comes, he and I will probably spend Christmas here in Bamako though.

In local news:

While walking to the store the other day, I passed a small girl seated on a stool with another stool in front of her on which she had put several small bowls. In the bowls was a mixture of water and dirt. The child was happily mixing the dirt and water together and pulling assorted rocks and debris from another large bowl behind her and adding them to the smaller concoctions in front of her. At first I was confused at what she was doing, but I slowly realized the scene was very familiar. Every street corner in Bamako has a woman selling assorted fried food, rice and sauce, etc. This little girl was pretending. She was "cooking" food and pretending to be a street vendor. It reminded me of kids in the US with their plastic food toys, lemonade stands, and all their assorted games of pretend. Sometimes it's nice, in this crazy mixed up world, to know kids are kids are kids.

Gypsy on

oh ya, my cat is pregnant. the hussy.

A huge disappointment

2008-11-07T00:03:00.001-08:00

the passage of measure 8 in california makes me very angry my absentee ballot didn't arrive in the mail in time for me to vote. (i only used a federal write in ballot for president). anyway, can we all just step back a minute and realize what a mistake we made.

prop 22 was passed (also banning gay marriage) awhile back and then the california supreme court overturned it saying it was unconstitutional because the California constitution requires that everyone is treated equal.

so brilliantly someone decided to amend the constitution so everyone ISN'T treated equally. so we let a majority vote decide that the minority can't be treated equally....isn't that what equal protection under the law is supposed to protect against?

we amended the constitution so we could treat people unequally. really? that struck us as a good idea? unbelieveable.

can i also just point out that i can't give students a tylenol in class but we are passing laws that allow them to get abortions without informing their parents....that seems weird. although, admittedly, someone mentioned to me "what if the girl is pregnant by incest or rape and they don't want to tell their parents for fear of further abuse?" I hadn't thought of that, but i'm still not convinced.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T14:29:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Happy Halloween and Halloween Gift all around (if you don't get that you probably don't have Oakie roots).

Halloween in Mali is mostly uneventful. I made pumpkin pie and then went with my military friends to the American School to help run a haunted house. I got to scare little kids and make them cry and wet their pants. All in all a good night.

I'm really starting to feel at home here in Mali. I've been spending a lot of time outdoors: running, walking, going to the market, walking to work, etc. On these walks I almost always stopped by random malians who just want to chat.

Malians are so hospitable and nice. The other day on my way home from work I was stopped by a group of malians i frequently walk/run past and asked to sit and chat for awhile. So we talked in Bambara, French, and some English and just passed the time together. They even bought me a coke. It's so crazy how generous people are here. The butcher at the market likes for me to come sit behind his counter with him and he teaches me new bambara words. He also gives me free meat. So sweet considering Malians automatically think all white people are rich. he's basically giving to me out of his poverty, knowing i'm rich....so refreshing.

I've been working at the Catholic Relief Services office, helping their staff learn english so they can advance their careers....it's been a lot of fun. I've gotten to know a bunch of malians pretty well and learned more bambara and french a long the way.

Walking the streets of Bamako is becoming pretty normal, and I really like life here. If I didn't miss ya'll so much I'd be perfectly content!

Gypsy on!

Every Living Thing

2008-10-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading Every Living Thing by James Herriot. He's the British vet that writes about his experiences working with animals.

Such a heartwarming book. I love reading about the cats, dogs, horses, cows, pigs, etc. and the relationship the animals have with other animals, their babies, and their humans.

It's pretty amazing how attached we can become to our furry friends. I'm already pretty attached to my little Phoebe. She's so sweet tempered and loves to cuddle, which is nice since I don't have Thomas around! And it's funny how much I miss my little (well huge) Sawyer (he's in good hands with Thomas, but i still miss that fat cat).

Anyway, pick up a book by Herriot and you'll not be sorry. I've read a couple (I think this is my second time reading this book, but I was so young the first time I hardly remembered it) and they are all great.

And give your own little shaggy, hairy friends an extra treat today cause there's nothing like the unconditional love and trust of a devoted animal.

UPDATE (and a completely different subject): I don't care who you are voting for come November, Orson Scott Card got it right (and I loved his books when i was a kid) The Press Sucks. Don't be taken in.

Sugar cookies and the Monk

2008-10-22T11:46:00.000-07:00

The internet monk has a really interesting post here.

Linda sent me sugar cookies (among other glorious goodies). They are delicious and prove that baked goods can make the trans-continental and trans-atlantic journey. Thanks John and Linda :)

mmmmmmm

My absolute favorite poem

2008-10-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

Ode to Autumn

By John Keats

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;

To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernal; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease;

For Summer has o'erbrimm'd their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?

Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find

Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,

Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;

Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,

Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook

Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:

And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep

Steady thy laden head across a brook;

Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,

Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.

Where are the song of Spring? Ay, where are they?

Think not of them, thou hast thy music too, --

While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day

And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;

Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn

Among the river-sallows, borne aloft

Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;

And full-grown lambs bleat from hilly bourn;

Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft

The redbreast whistles from garden-croft;

And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

I could write a lovely analysis of this, telling you why this poem is a masterpiece. But I find the simple beauty of the poem enough.

Miss You Wish I Was There

2008-10-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

Mom, Dad, Nathan, Kristi, Andrew, and Thomas all went to the pumpkin patch today. Luckys. First pic below is an old pic of me at the patch, and the one after is it is one of my favorite halloween pictures of all time. Miss you guys! Hope you ate a frito pie for me (sans the sour cream)! mmmmm fritos.

still researching...still undecided

2008-10-16T15:13:00.000-07:00

collective shame...i don't want collective shame

but what about collective shame over what's happening in iraq or not happening in burma or not happening in the sudan or georgia or china

voting is serious business

2008-10-16T04:46:00.000-07:00

i really like obama. he's cool. he's smart and eloquent. he's like a mac and mccain is like a pc. unfortunately i can't vote like i pick computers. coolness doesn't count for much when you run for president.

so i'm trying to be an informed voter. but the more informed i get the harder it is to make a decision. being moderate is harder than it looks.

i don't like war. i don't like partial birth abortion. i do think gay people should be allowed to get married. i don't like the death penalty. i do think health care needs reform. i don't like universal health care because i think it is haphazard and shoddy at best. i don't think people should die because they don't have adequate insurance. i think our environment needs cleaning up. i think we need to do something about the economy. i don't think it's fair that rich people have to pay a higher percentage of taxes than everyone else. i like the welfare system. i think the welfare system needs reform. i think peace corps needs more money. i pretty much think palin is a retard. i don't really like biden either. i think mccain is a national hero. i don't like bush. i'm mostly quaker pacifist. i do believe the soldiers i've talked to who say we are doing good things in iraq. i'm glad saddam isn't in power. i hate the patriot act. i think jeremiah wright is a racist and his church needs to reevaluate their focus. i don't like that obama sat under wright's tutelage for 20 years and then coped out when he was called to the floor for it. i understand the history of oppression that produced jeremiah wright and the "black" church and i can't, in good conscience, condemn obama, wright, or his church for their views. i think this country needs a morale booster. i don't even understand the economy but i know it needs serious help. i think countries that oppress their people (ie china, burma, sudan, etc.) need to be sanctioned without regard to if they have or do not have oil supply we want or trade "opportunities." i'm afraid of abminijhad (sp). i like israel. i think hamas has a martyr complex. i was bombed by hezbollah. i'm a feminist. and so much more inner conflict i can't even dredge up right now.

the world is topsy turvy these days. i still don't know who to vote for. sometimes i'm glad my vote won't really count in california, since it's rather blue. but i can't get rid of the nagging feeling that i need to make a decision because it's an important character builder and to just cop out with a "my vote doesn't matter anyway" seems so irresponsible.

somebody give me a reason to make a stand.

yes i realize i didn't use any capitals. i didn't feel like it.

It's the little things

2008-10-15T08:45:00.001-07:00

i really love buying warm watermelon slices for the equivalent of a dime and eating it as i meander through dirt roads passing goats and shaking hands with small children

Tid Bits

2008-10-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

I just received the "Best of San Francisco Box." It is divine. Thanks John :)

Phoebe killed a bird today, it was gruesome, I still love her. She also ate a cockroach, which although was disgusting and made me almost retch, I'm very pleased that she is taking it upon herself to rid Mali of pests.

Can i just say i love eric clapton. My Father's Eyes is awesome.

(thanks to Thomas for showing this to me) Prince is unreal during his solo: George Harrison Tribute

Thank goodness for Hot Chocolate and Rain

2008-10-13T02:15:00.000-07:00

Nothing like a cup of hot chocolate on a rainy African morning to aleve October homesickness. I'd kill to go to Disneyland and look at the Halloween decorations holding hands with Thomas (see pictures below).

Good news: mom sent me It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Halloween decorations, and plenty of boxes of g

oodness to keep me baking throughout the month. I'll be fine.

There is always Halloween 2010, sweety. We'll go decorate those outrageously expensive Spider Cookies at Woody's Halloween Round up, then we'll go on Tower of Terror....muhahahahahaha!

Feel free to join us in 2010 everyone else. Mark I just KNOW you want to take Jackie! Andrew will be just the right age, Kristi ;) Mom and Dad, by

then you'll be ancient and probably senile, but Thomas and I will push you around in your wheelchairs and Nathan will change your diapers. Mark is in charge of wiping the drool. hehehehe. Miss everyone!

I have a few pictures to share :)

This one is of cute little Phoebe snuggled up on the end of the bed while I was sick.

I was invited to go out on a friend's boat on Sunday. WAY FUN!

On the boat, I'm obviously very happy about boating on the Niger.

After boating, a few of us went to lunch. While eating, there was a torrential downpour which turned the street into a mini river. Mike is not happy about fording the street to the car.

Wolverine carving his pumpkin last year. I miss this

Disneyland at Halloween Times last year. Thomas looks a lot like Elvis in this picture....

Gypsy on

This and That

2008-10-11T05:29:00.000-07:00

I got a bit sick again. Nothing major, I think it's just a spot of the flu. Aches, fatigue, upset stomach, etc. Nothing a day in bed couldn't fix. Feeling much better today.

I've started pod casting Imago Dei's sermons each week. This month Rick started an indepth study of 1 Corinthians. I highly recommend you tune in. When I started attending Imago he was doing the same sort of study with Romans, quite possibly the best series I've ever heard. Rick takes each verse and unpacks it. Literally each one. He's guessing it will take a year to finish the series. A YEAR! That dude is committed, and so is that congregation. Short attention spans need not apply. I've listened to the first two sermons so far, and although they aren't stellar, if you read the first 15 verses of the book, well...he's not got a ton to work with. Can't wait til he gets to the nitty gritty, these first few weeks are just set ups for the rest of the book. If you are interested click HERE.

I also added a few links over there on the side bar of people I find interesting. I've been reading most of them for quite some time now and find them thought provoking. Highly recommend Internet Monk and Bitch PhD. I like opposites.

Other than my stomach, things in Mali are quiet. I baked some box carmelita bars today that tasted like heaven...thanks mom and Betty Crocker. I've started working with an NGO called CRS, Catholic Relief Services, they do all sorts of things in Mali like Malaria prevention, and health care, etc. I'm simply showing up twice a week to sit with their Malian employees and help them practice their English by discussing whatever topic is interesting for the day...American elections, Islam, whatever. To advance in their professional lives, they need English...I'm happy to oblige.

Peace Corps finally gave us our bikes. They had been stuck in customs for quite some time, but they are worth the wait. Brand new Trek bikes! I've already started using mine to get around. Don't worry I wear a helmet, Peace Corps will kick me out if I don't.

Gypsy on!

***EDIT*** I'm making marinara sauce now. When I can't leave the house (well the bathroom) I get cagey. Being cagey makes me cook. I've never made marinara sauce...we'll see how it goes.

Giddy

2008-10-08T04:30:00.000-07:00

So i woke up this morning dreading the errands i needed to run. I had to go to the market and buy some ground beef, and, although this sounds like no big deal, in Mali...EVERYTHING is a big deal. Or at least it seems like it is when there is a 12 foot language barrier to deal with.

So anyway, I leave my house and gear up for the million times I'm going to have to greet someone, ask how their family is, how they are, how there night was, and more. In the two blocks from my house to the market I probably greet about 30 people. Then, once I get to the market, I have to deal with people asking me what I'm looking for, why I don't buy their tomatos, and whether or not I'm married.

At first, I hate greeting, but usually by the 3rd person I like it. Everyone is so nice, and even though I don't know what they are saying, I seem to do a little better each day. Also, I noticed today that EVERYONE I saw knew me by name and wanted to talk with me. It was crazy. I called into a tailor's workshop by name to greet the tailors. I don't know how they know my name, but they did. I finally get to the market and go to the meat seller I bought meat from last time. I asked him if he had meat without bones I could grind, but he didn't. Then another guy came running up and told me to follow him. He took me to another meat seller who DID have the meat I needed and he helped me buy it and take it to the grinder. Grinding takes a few minutes, so while I'm standing there all the men are teasing me because my last name is Traore and they are Djiarras. We joke around and I accuse them of eating beans and tell them they are bad people. (this is all very normal in Mali and is a good way to make friends...i know it's weird.) Anyway, so my meat is being ground and the guy who helped me find the meat and grind it tells me that he and I are going to get married and I'm going to take him back to America. I readily agreed. (Don't worrry Thomas this is another way of joking around in Mali).

My meat is finished, and as I leave the market two girls i buy vegetables from call me from across the market to come talk to them. So I do, and again it's mostly me not understanding anything they say, but I entertain them, so I guess it wasn't a total loss.

Finally I'm almost out of the main market area when my "fiance" comes running up to me. He asks me what day I'm going to return for him. I told him that when he had more money I would come. (Again this is a fairly standard joke).

Okay, so that was fun. And I'm already wondering why I dreaded leaving the house. Then as I make my way back home I stop to talk with the older woman who sells peanuts on our corner. She was one of the first people in the neighborhood that I talked with when I moved in. She is very sweet and I try and talk to her everytime I pass. Well today she gestures at her peanuts and says something to me....I figure she wants me to buy some. So I ask her in bambara how much they are...but she says something and gestures like I should just take them.

SHE GAVE THEM TO ME FOR FREE! I know that doesn't seem like a big deal....but to me it was. She gave me free peanuts! how sweet is that? She gave the rich white girl free peanuts! I will now buy peanuts from her everytime I pass to the market.

I feel loved. My neighbors rock. Even people in the scary market are nice to me. Life is good.

Gypsy on!

My cat is a hussy

2008-10-03T13:01:00.000-07:00

A myseterious white boy cat is hanging around the house trying to get into bed with my little Phoebe. Maybe I should go get her fixed or get her on birth control (ya they have it for cats). Mali needs Bob Barker.

Speaking of animals...I love animals. Phoebe eats ground beef, rice, and eggs for pete's sake. That's better than I eat! Sawyer (my cat back in Ameriki that thomas has) is the fattest cat I've ever seen. He lives like a king. I love dogs, our dog used to get her own happy meal at McDonalds (which led to some medical problems, but that was totally accidental). I even think animals we eat should be treated nicely until they are butchered for my table. And, although I absolutely LOVE the zoo, I am theoretically against its existence.

Anyway, clearly I am an animal lover. However, I am also of the firm belief that people matter more. As I walked down the dirt road today I noticed a sign pointing me in the direction of an organization name something along the lines of Animal Rights Abroad. It wasn't that exactly, and I cant' manage to remember the name right now, but you get the idea. Then I looked around me...open sewers, malnutrition, destitute poverty, malaria, HIV/AIDS, THE THIRD POOREST FREAKING COUNTRY IN THE WORLD....and we are wasting someone's money, be it government or private, on protecting the animals of Mali.

Now I"m not talking about the hippos that are chilling out in the south or the gators in the north, that I could at least understand....that's the environment and what not. But no, this sign had a picture of a cow. A COW! Okay I know the sheep here have it bad, I mean they live in the sewers more or less, the dogs are kicked (I hate that), the donkey's are whipped and forced to carry HUGE loads, the cows eat out of the landfill, etc etc. I just don't see how anyone could justify donating money to Mali for animals. I mean 85% of the population here is illiterate! Something like 1 in 5 kids die before they are 5 years old! Maybe we should address the bigger problems here before we start saving the goats from being mistreated.

Argh. People are nutty.

This

Bonne Fete

2008-09-30T13:36:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day. Ramadan ended today, so that means everyone gets to eat during the day. Think of this holiday on par with the American Thanksgiving in terms of eating.

I was bummed this morning because I was pretty sure i was going to miss out on all the fun since I don't have any really good Malian friends yet. HOWEVER, my friend Racy called me around noon, to ask if I wanted to go with her and her friends to celebrate. Of course I said yes, and they picked me up minutes later and whisked us away to a beautiful house outside Bamako proper.

Her Malian friends made us DELICIOUS food, and we just sat and talked all day. It was so fun and I had the best lamb ever! I love Mali!

Before I left for the fete, I organized the Halloween decorations my mom sent me (thanks momma) and started looking online for ideas for halloween crafts I could do to add to my decorating prowess. (We all know how crappy i am at art, and how I got S- in grade school in neatness, but still, I try). Anyway, I raided my med kit for gauze pads (sorry PCMO's) and made little ghosts from them, and I'm in the process of constructing gravestones to put outside in the yard (my yard is walled, so Malians won't know, otherwise I think I'd be labeled a witch or something). I also found a recipe for salt dough, which you can mold into ghosts....but one needs a mircowave....I think i'm going to try and use the one at the Peace Corps Bureau to make some ghosts....muahahahahahahaha!

Anyway, tomorrow is the first, so I'm going to get up early and run to the grocery store to get a loaf pan, then i'll attempt to make some pumpkin bread from a mix my mom sent me while I decorate with my meager, but festive, decorations. Long Live Halloween!

Gypsy on!

Sundays

2008-09-28T11:23:00.000-07:00

Sundays make me homesick. send good thoughs :)

I know, I know

2008-09-24T05:37:00.000-07:00

I've been absolutely terrible at updating this lately. My mother has reminded me of this.

So I did get a new cat. Her name is Phoebe, like I said. She was given to me (shots included) by the administrative officer of Peace Corps Mali. Her cat had kittens awhile back and she still had three to get rid of. Although I do love cats just for being cats, I especially am enjoying them in Mali because they keep bugs and mice away! Phoebe is very affectionate and likes to nuzzle under my hands and arms to get pet. She's a sweetheart.

Living in Bamako has been good as of yet. Most of my days are, admittedly, slow. I don't have a lot to do yet since school doesn't start until December. I have been trying to find projects that can fill the time between now and then, and supplement my schedule once I start teaching. I've also been running and working out most days and just "yalayala-ing" around my neighborhood (yalayala means wander around). I've met most of my neighbors, and they're very nice and we exchange greetings several times a day. I can't wait to start my Bambara tutoring so I can actually talk to them. I'm actually going to schedule with my tutor later today, so hopefully I can get going on that! Also, I've been hanging out with the Ex-Pat community. I play football on Sundays, basketball on Tuesdays/thursdays, and soccer or softball on Saturdays. They're all really nice and, because they actually make good money here, are willing to feed me occasionally!

I've also been enjoying being able to cook for myself. I've learned the joys of eggplant. I've never in my life cooked eggplant, but now it's a staple to almost everything I make. I've made a simple ratatouille several times which is cheap, filling, nutritious, and delicious. As we speak I'm munching on a eggplant pizza I made with some pita bread (available here due to the large Lebanese population), hummus (which I got from a can but then added garlic, lemon, paprika, and olive oil to), and stir-fried garlic and eggplant. It's fabulous. I think I'm going to try and make some fried eggplant either tonight or tomorrow to eat with the left over hummus. I used to get fried eggplant from the falafel (which, by the way, I've also made here) guy at the farmers market near my house. I really liked it, so I'm going to give it a go.

I've also located a bakery that makes whole wheat bread! Yay! Peanut Butter and Jelly is my usual post run snack :) yay america. Sometimes I couple it with some koolaid people have sent me. SOOO GOOD! The produce quality in Mali is pretty good, it's just limited to what can grow here and the seasons. For example, mangos are delicious but we only have them for 4 months or so. Green beans only come around for a few months too. I should be able to do just fine for myself, and, on top of that, I'll learn how to cook some new foods since my old fall backs from home just aren't feasible here.

Cheese is really hard to get, for example, because it is so expensive here. A kilo (2.2 pounds) of cheddar cheese is about 35 dollars. Emmentaller is the cheapest cheese by far, but even that is about 20 bucks for kilo.

I'm really telling all of you this so that you can send me recipe ideas :) So here's an idea of what I can get:

Potatos
Eggplant
Onion
Okra (LOTS AND LOTS OF OKRA...Any good recipes?)
Carrots
Cucumber
Tomatos
Flour
Eggs
Corn Flour
Sugar
Baking Soda
Yeast
Green Peppers
Pasta
Pita
Soy Sauce
Greek Olives
Most spices
MANY asian and middle eastern sauces/condiments
Rice
Corn
Olive oil
Green beans
Watermelon
oranges
Apples
Canned and dry white/red beans
Lentils
Canned corn, peas, tuna, tomatoes
Tomato paste
And most meats are available....really good meat is expensive though, I should be buying meat in the market (think 3rd world....) but i can get good ground beef and good cuts in the white people stores. The market meat is not BAD, it's just hit and miss in quality. Chicken is available, but chickens here are scrawny and there isn't a lot of meat on them and I've never seen boneless skinless chicken breast....

Okay everyone...send me your best recipe. Either by email or just post a comment. JR i expect something good. I'm in a country of savages, help me out here ;)

Money is a bit of an issue...for example I can't go buy like 40 spices for a dish. I have the salt, pepper, garlic salt, paprika, cayenne, garlic, oregano, cinnamon and basil. I can buy some others, just don't give me a giant list.

I think I'll attempt to make some cornmeal soon. I haven't been able to find it here, and i've got enough time on my hands to try making my own pioneer styles. After that I can make corn pone and fritters or something :) (After reading Cold Mountain I've been craving something corn-like...maybe some corn mush)

Anyway, nothing exciting I know, but such is life for the next couple months.

Gypsy on

Phoebe!

2008-09-23T15:55:00.000-07:00

I got a cat! Her name is Phoebe!

2008-09-19T09:11:00.000-07:00

We had to bail out our courtyard today to keep our rooms from flooding! It was a huge storm!!!!! Thankfully we got enough water out before the ship went down, i mean the house flooded.

Gypsy on

2008-09-16T10:16:00.000-07:00

YAY I finally finished painting my room. It took all day. Literally. But it looks so much better! It's not a great job, and i have ghetto crown molding (also known as I can't reach the top of the wall without painting the ceiling so i just stopped a couple inches short) and if one looks hard enough, one can see missed spots and blotches, but it's still better than dingy dirty white.

New Pics Up!

2008-09-15T10:36:00.000-07:00

Okay there are some new pics up including ones of my new house, but even those aren't up to date! I painted my room today and i'll get you some finished product pics soon :) It looks great, well....great for Mali.

For the last days of training:

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2061025&l=161eb&id=8501838

and for swear in and the house:

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2061130&l=3b09e&id=8501838

Home is where the heart is

2008-09-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

Well i'm settled into my new house in Bamako. It's seems like a mansion compared to my hut in Sanakoroba. I must admit, this is MUCH cushier living than out on Brusse (this means bush in French...well i assume in french, i actually don't even know lol). I've got my own bathroom with running water, a shower (albeit a cold one), and even a toilet. Now I just have to figure out how to get the mildewy smell out of the shower drain, it's gross. I've got my own kitchen now too. So i can start cooking food in my ghetto oven. I even have a fridge!

All the same i live in a city with open sewers, terrible pollution, and there is livestock meandering down the center of the road at any given time. Life is strange in a Developing Country.

My house is very nice, and some pictures are posted in the links below. So check it out. They are all before pictures, I actually moved all my stuff in today, so the house isn't so empty. I live with two guys, Jeffrey and Alec, so I'm not all by myself like most Peace Corps volunteers. Again, my service isn't very normal since I"m living in a capital city working at a university.

I'm very happy to have finally unpacked my bags. It's been hell living out of a bag for 2 months without any REAL place to call home. I love my house. I love my neighbors. I love that I have a Malian Market around the corner (think bazaar in a very 3rd world kind of way....i get most of my food here, among other things...i'll take pictures later). I love the dirt roads, the cows wondering about the streets, and the life of the city. I think I might even love the mosque down the street that wakes me up at 3:30 in the morning for call to prayer (well actually it's to tell people to eat before the sun comes up cause of Ramadan, call to prayer isn't til 5)

My address is still the same, but now I'm a PCV, not a PCT (WOOT).

things are good, and getting better.

Gypsy on!

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2057370&1a&id=8501838

The new pictures are after picture #30

there are more new pics, but i'm having trouble uploading, stay tuned

Swearing in 9/12/08

2008-09-11T15:08:00.001-07:00

I, Tiffany Bailey, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

I trained for 2 months. I learned French. I passed my tests. I took the oath. And now I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer.

Swearing in is at the US Embassy with all the hoopla of Ambassadors and Press etc. etc. etc.

Then we party.

Then we save the world.

Sending Fire Trucks to a Stone Village

2008-09-10T12:28:00.000-07:00

Development Work. I, apparently, am involved in Development Work. I thought I was just making the individual decision to make a difference in peoples' lives, however, I've learned that I'm actually involved in Developing a Nation.

What does that even mean? Development from what and to what? I'm assuming all this Developing has something to do with alleviating poverty. That makes sense right?

So poverty. Our guest speaker today is the director of the Millenium Challenge Project. Google it, I don't have time to explain other than it's an NGO that wants to Develop countries. Anyway, he asked us today to consider the following:

Country X (big hint here, X is Mali) become a democracy in 1990.

Every year since that time the GDP has increased 5%. Not bad. In fact between 1990-2008 the GDP has more than doubled.
From 1990-2008 60% of the GDP is Agricultural and originating from Rural populations
The Urban population accounts for 20% of the total population with 80% residing in rural areas.
From 1990-2008 the Urban Poverty rates have decreased from 27%-23%.
HOWEVER in the same period of time the Rural Poverty rate has Increased 76%-79%

What the hell is going on. The economy is getting better nationally. The majority of the GDP comes from the rural areas, but the rural populations are getting poorer.

So what does Development look like to a Peace Corps volunteer? Is it planting better seeds? Getting better irrigation? Making farmers produce more? This is a common goal for volunteers. But then what. They make more, to sell it for crappy prices, to get poorer. They sell raw cotton, which is exported, and then they buy fabric that is imported. The farmers have no property rights because there are no land deeds. Property is considered owned as long as you are using it...so you send your grandma out to throw some millet seeds around and farm a meager product while you (the male bread winner) go try and find a job in Bamako.

I feel so far out of my league tackling problems of national Development. I have no idea and I'm overwhelmed by a country, no a continent, that has basically become a welfare state. A Welfare Continent, if you well. Africa gets money sent to them to improve their schools, if their schools improve they stop getting money. If the schools don't improve, they get more money.

In fact, Mali is the darling of the Development world because it is a real democracy (sort of). It's secular and there is universal suffarage, in theory at least. Developed Nations like the USA are very vested in making Mali succeed. Money is no object when the outcome is an African Nation that is Democratic and a Success. Too bad it's not really working.

There is a village in Mali where a fire truck is sitting on blocks outside the town mayor's office. The town is made of stone. The fire truck was donated by some Baptist church in Southern America. Why did they donate a fire truck? Because the town didn't have one. The truck has subsequently been scavenged for parts and tires, and now sits outside a lonely idol to nonsustainable Development.

There are Malian tailors who are going out of business because American's are donating clothes to ship to Africa. Tailors are no longer needed to make traditional clothing.

Sustainable Development. What the hell is it? How do I contribute to it in a University setting?

Don't worry I'm not discouraged, just intrigued.

The end of Home Stay

2008-09-07T09:23:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm finished with homestay! I'll become a real live Peace Corps Volunteer on Friday. We're swearing in at the American Embassy and then having a rockin party at the Deputy Ambassador's house. Should be a lot of fun! In the meantime I'm at Tubaniso and have internet, email me!

The last few days at homestay were good. I shared some American food with my family every night (Oreos, starburst, tootsie rolls, etc.) And I really tried to enjoy my time with my fam. They were really good to me and I'll miss hanging out with them. Ramadan also started the first of the month, but my family didn't really fast. We did however have huge dinners every night. The food was really really good! We had Pate one night, which is basically like a hot pocket. It's fried dough with delicious meat inside....not the sketchy meat the good stuff.

My last full day at home my fam gave me one last present-- Henna tattoos on my feet and hands. It's pretty cool and I'll try and get some pictures up soon.

Check out the blog I wrote this week at homestay in the mean time:

September 3, 2008

Mark and Jackie….you guys rule. Thanks for the sweet package. The Mickey Mouse shortbread cookies were truly amazing. I really don't think words can express the yumminess experienced...it was sublime. Thanks so much! :) Thomas your package made it too, but the freak shows in the Malian mail system stole your note from the box. How weird….but at least they left the candy.

Thanks to everyone who is sending me things. I appreciate it so much and feel very loved and supported. I must say that I'm pretty sure I have enough peanut butter to last me a good 6 months. I'm also up to my ears in tootsie pops and jolly ranchers. In fact you all have done so well I think I've gained back a couple of the 10 pounds I lost on arrival, but I can't be sure until I weigh myself Sunday at Tubaniso. If I come home from Africa fatter than when I left, I'll have you wonderful people to thank for the cases of Oreos and Starbursts that have been sent my way J Now if anyone can figure out how to send me some Taco Bell and a Papa Murphy's pizza….you will win my heart forever.

I really really love all you guys (not just cause you send me nice cards/letters/packages) and I feel truly blessed to have all you good people in my life.

Actually, I'll be moving into my own house soon and I'll be able to cook my own food. I'm pretty excited about this, but I'll miss the plethora of goat meat I'm served here in Sanankoroba. Okay, that's sort of a lie, there is a lot of goat meat, but I don't actually eat the goat meat. My family is under the impression that I don't eat meat, except for chicken and fish. This has worked to my advantage several times and may keep me from having to eat goat head at the end of the week. They think I'm strange for steering clear of all their sketch-tacular, fatty, grisly meat, but lucky for me, they think white people are weird anyway and just chalk it up to another facet of our bizarratude (ya I made that word up, take that Spell Check).

I heard a story the other day and I don't' think I've recounted it yet, but I can't be sure cause I have no memory of any blogs I write. I write them and immediately forget what I said. I chalk this up to my mother's genes. Anyway, at the beginning of the war with Iraq, Malians were discussing whether they should go help Iraq since America was fighting what they termed a "religious" war. (Lets, for the sake of our sanity, ignore any political implications of that for now). It turns out many of the radio stations were asking Malians to call in and give their opinion on the topic. A great many Malians did call in and there were a vast number of calls that went something along the lines of the following:

"We should not help Iraq. There is an American in our town who works for Peace Corps and he/she has always been very nice. They live with us, work with us, eat with us, and talk to us in our National languages (national languages are Bambara and other tribal languages…not French). Where are the Iraqis in Mali? I have never met one in my village, but the American in my village is very good."

If that doesn't make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside when you're homesick, I don't know what will.

In health news….

I've seemingly developed several ticks while here in Mali. I'm constantly swinging my arms around and slapping myself. I've also been known to kick my feet in the air for what appears to be no reason. It would seem I have Teret's (sp????) But if you look closer it's the damn flies. I swear all of Mali is rotting. It's like National Geographic over here…all these frickin flies trying to crawl all over you. It's probably one of the most annoying side effects of living in Mali. There are more flies here than I've ever seen in my whole life combined. So, if I come home and accidentally smack you in what appears to be wild flailing, be kind, I'm probably seeing imaginary flies from a PTS type of psychosis.

The past two days I've been teaching 11 Malian students in a bit of a "mock classroom" type setting. The students are 4^th years at the University and the guinea pigs for my first Malian teaching experience. The two lessons went well, and I especially enjoyed teaching the subtle nuances of Ralph Waldo Emereson's essay "Self-Reliance" while explaining the finer points of Trancendentalism. The students are bright but hard to control. They are loud. Much louder than American students. And there were only 11 of them. I will have 130 in December…..I may have a break down. ;)

I've been filling a lot of my time lately with reading. So far I've plowed through:

· Steinbeck's Once There Was a War Verdict: There is a reason Steinbeck is my favorite author – it's a collection of his war correspondence during WWII, and I found it to be really interesting.
· Allende's The Infinite Plan Verdict: Allende is always Amazing. Read her.
· Gregory Maguire's Wicked The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West Verdict: Decent, but not as good as I'd hoped.
· Marian Keyes Anybody Out There? Verdict: GREAT CHICK BOOK J You'll laugh, you'll cry, and then you'll want to get married.
· Robert Ludlum's Apocalypse Watch Verdict: Quite possibly the worst book I've ever read
· Carl Hiaasen's Basket Case Verdict: eh I've seen worse….and much better
· Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain Verdict: Great, absolutely fabulous. Read it.

That's it so far. I'm going to be working my way through a small library by the end of two years. If you have any good books and are willing package them up for me, I'd be grateful. We have a lot of books collected here by other Peace Corps Volunteers over the years, but I can always use a new (or old) good book. J I'm about to start Catcher in the Rye, somehow after majoring in English I still haven't read it.....

That's all for now J

Gypsy On.

(PS Leave a comment or two if you're so inclined. Don't be shy. If you want a question answered or you're wondering about something or you wanna know random Malian trivia or maybe you just wanna say hi….well go ahead push the link for comments…..everyone is so quiet….it makes me think I'm talking to myself

A quick stop in Bamako

2008-08-31T05:11:00.001-07:00

here are the recent blogs from my long haul at home stay :)

Gypsy on

August 30, 2008

It's 7:17 am in the morning. I went for a short run this morning hoping that the worst of the storms had passed over in the night. The good news is there wasn't any lightening, the bad news I didn't miss the storms. All is well though.

So, I'm sitting here getting ready for the day and I'm looking out my door at a grey wet Africa, and suddenly my I-Pod starts playing the very comforting voice of Willie Nelson (I love the shuffle songs option). Suddenly this strange land of Mali looks suspiciously familiar. It's just like the movies, in my head I flash back to some wet streets outside of some department store made of brick, a brown sectional couch, a tepee in the woods, Dairy Queen, card playing, and climbing down off my bunk bed to the smell of bacon and the sound of happy voices. Yep, that's right, of all the places in the world, it's Tillamook and Garibaldi that I'm reminded of in Africa. Who would of thought?

Those were good days. A HUGENORMOUS bathtub, John and Linda, cards, bikes, BB guns and slugs. Mom and Dad, I loved that house. Thanks for the good times. John and Linda, miss you guys J Send sugar cookies ;) hehehehehe…just kidding…kind of.

Gypsy on, cause them blue days all of them gone, nothing but blue skies from now on.

P.S. I took the I-Pod of shuffle, now I'm listening to the whole Stardust album. If only there was some SPAM sizzling in the frying pan and a game of Pinochle going on in the background, it'd be heaven. Any chance you can get that house back Dad?

August 28, 2008

Mmmm…just finished a hearty meal of French fries, tomato oniony sauce thing and….fish heads. Yummy. Actually if you don't look at the fish head while you eat it, it's not so bad.

Have I told you I'm liking Malian food lately? Okay "liking" is strong. But I even have a favorite Malian dish and everything. I'm not sure if I already wrote about this….my life is just a blur at this point. I'd go back and read, but I'm writing this sans access to the Internet, so I can't just scroll down and check. Anyway, my favorite Malian dish BY FAR is Tigi Digi Na. Don't quote me on spelling; I haven't learned very much Bambara yet. Tigi is peanut and Na is sauce. Basically it's a peanut butter sauce. BUT, if you are thinking yummy Thai food peanut sauce, you are very very incorrect. The first time I had tigi digi na I was sorely disappointed and didn't like it. But have the ol' tigi digi na 5 times and you start to think it's good….especially when compared to To (playdoh with snot sauce), fish heads, and unidentified meat parts and organs. J Don't worry I fully plan on learning how to make Tigi Digi Na so that you all can experience it when I move home J Get excited people. I'll even throw some dirt in the rice to make it an authentic experience.

I have only 10 more days or so of home stay, and then it's life in the big city. I'm pretty excited to get into my house and stop living out of a bag, but at the same time I'm really gonna miss my Malian fam. They're so great. Tonight I sat outside under the stars with my 17-year-old host sister and helped her cook (mostly watched and held a flashlight) the fam's dinner. After that my dad talked to me about how Malian's need to be literate, and then I watched a movie with Steven Segal. Is that how you spell his name? Steven Segal, that man can break necks in any language. Malians love action movies. LOVE THEM, the finer points of more lofty and philosophical movies are lost on them, but they love Van Dam (again is that even spelled right?)

Moving on…Some shout outs are in order…

Grandma is rocking the mail! I've gotten 4 cards already. Thanks G-ma (you too grumpy old man) they really make my day! Also, to mom and dad, I got the second package today…..yuuuuummmmmmmmyyyyyy Oreos have never been so good. Today was actually a great mail day….I got two other package notices (meaning I have to pay for the packages to be released from customs and I should have them in my hot little hands early next week). I'm assuming one of said packages is from that hot stud of a man I left back in the USA (thanks hunner), but, the other one is from a mystery person. Someone out there rocks my socks off for sending me a package….thank you to whoever it is, you shall be properly shouted out to once the package is delivered and I can see who you actually are.

August 20, 2008

Jill Denbrook, the Durminator, that was the most awesome letter every written. ;) Thanks. Ya made my day.

Also, Mom, thanks for the tootsie pops. I pretty much had a tootsie pop once every 6 months in the USA….but here I can't get through a day without one. Delicious.

Malian education is messed up. However, there are some bright spots. USAID funds a project to bring education over the radio. I know, when I first heard about it I thought it was a crack pot scheme that reeked of boredom. However, after speaking with the folks at FIER (some French Acronym for People Who Make Learning Fun for Students and Teaching Easy for Teachers Over the Radio). The gist of the idea is that 2 days every week (although they just got approved for more funding to make it EVERYDAY) 3^rd and 4^th grade classrooms (and hopefully with the extra funding more grade levels) can tune into their local radio station to hear and participate in a pedagogically sound lesson. But these lessons are uber fun and come with a teacher handbook with which the teacher actually learns how to teach better. I'm doing a terrible job explaining it, but trust me….this idea, this program is phenomenal. I heard one of the broadcasts today and talked with the Director from USAID and I was beyond impressed. American tax dollars hard at work, and for a good cause, and even cost efficient….they create, record and implement the radio show with only 9 employees, only one of which is American. Yay.

One of the great parts of this program is that it addresses the enormous problem of poor teacher training in Mali. Often teachers are simply given a 3 week training course (care of the World Bank's economists working education like an economy) and sent out to Malian classrooms to teach. Often these people have finished maybe the 9^th grade. The radio program helps their teaching become more pedagogically sound and actually gives them the right answers. There are no teacher editions in Africa. None. They don't exist. This doesn't seem like a huge issue, but think about it…..I'm a teacher, and more than once I've glanced at the teacher's copy to make sure I actually knew what the past participle in a sentence was….these poorly trained teachers don't have anyway to check and see if they are dispensing the right answers……scary.

In other Malian education news…

The short end of the stick is that there simply isn't enough money or resources in Mali. Mali has a great education ideals, curriculum, and goals in theory, but in practice they just aren't getting it done. For example, there are several girls initiatives to get more girls in school, but without a drastic change in school structure that's still a long way off. They also want all boys and girls to have an equal opportunity to attend school, but rural boys and especially rural girls are missing out. Although there are 1.2 million children in school, there are just under a million who aren't. New initiatives are on the ground to fight for change, however. For example, the Millineum Village Project (among other NGO's….Non Government Organizations for the non acronym savvy) is trying to get more one room schools set up. The premise of this is that all 1^st world countries founded their education system on one room schools. It wasn't until schools were able to provide transportation that multi-classroom schools were created. Think Little House on the Prarie styles. Right now, there are so few schools, and many children have to walk miles to get to school. Throw in the likelihood of chores, the problem of lunch, and worried parents concerned for their kids safety….and you've got a lot of kids not going to school simply because of distance. Other programs included in the Millenium Village Project include a Lunch Program for students. If you feed them, they will come.

There's a lot happening in education in Mali simply because Mali is the poster child African democracy and many countries (especially the USA) have very vested interests in making this secular democracy succeed.

In my sector of higher education, the statistics are staggering. My program alone has 6000 students and 40 teachers. That's crazy. That's 130 students per class or more. In addition, textbooks and resources are scarce. Even if a student manages to make it through 4 years of school, there is no guarantee of a job waiting for them; unemployment is high. As in so many Developing Countries, there is also the colossal brain drain (graduate from college and escape to France, the USA, or other better off African countries).

All right. Enough serious talk for now. I need a tootsie pop.

Gypsy on.

August 19, 2008

Back at home stay. I was sort of dreading coming back out here, but now that I'm here I can't remember what it was I dreaded

My family greeted me with smiles and handshakes (Malians don't hug, much to my dismay….I miss hugging). After warm greetings, they took my bag and escorted me to my door. After dropping my things I answered questions as best I could about my trip to Tubaniso and Bamako, my language skills still lack, however, and the best I could get out was that the trip went well.

I ran back to my room at this point to bring out the gift I had purchased for my family while I was in Bamako, a tea set. My father grinned from ear to ear when he saw the present. Malians love presents, and whenever one leaves home to travel one is expected to bring a gift back. My father, for example, often goes to Bamako for a day and usually brings me back some sort of fruit as a small token. He also buys his kids toy guns and dolls.

Anyway, the tea set had a special meaning that crossed the immense language barrier. My family and I have made many many cups of tea, resulting in some jittery caffeinated evenings, but also a bonding experience that goes beyond words and back to the ancient custom of offering drinks to travelers, friends, and family. My family loves to watch me make tea since I'm so inept at Malian tea brewing. It consists of several steps that I inevitably mess up by leaving the water boiling too long or not long enough, adding too little or too much sugar, or the ever present lack of ability to produce Moosh (apparently this means foam). Through all this tea making, I began to notice my family's tea set was old, worn, and broken. The teapot was missing a handle, and the usual set of two glasses was down to a lone vessel. Although a tea set is not a cheap gift (although to American's it is…only about 10 dollars) I felt compelled to bring my family back something that I knew they would see as a tribute to their hospitality and a token of my appreciation for their patience and willingness to attempt to include me in the cultures, customs, and traditions of their family even while I blundered and used my left hand to eat, greeted improperly, and offended them unknowingly with who knows what else.

We immediately made tea with the new set, and my family told me thank you several times. But really, I'm the one who's thankful.

In other news….

I had an interesting talk with a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) that has been in country for a year. She asked about my tattoo and it's meaning, questioning why I had put the Hebrew word for mercy on my body. I told her it was because I wanted to remember the mercy I've been shown by God and have an ever-present reminder to show mercy and compassion to all I encounter. I also placed it on my foot as a symbol of commitment to be the hands and feet of Christ. To make a long story short, this PCV ended up having a long discussion with me about faith and Mali and how she was struggling with her own walk. She told me she'd been praying that she would be able to have more conversations with people about God and faith.

It was interesting speaking with her about God; it seems like so long since I've had a good talk like that. It reminded me of the distance, both literally and figuratively, from my church and faith. Mali is a crazy place. It both reminds you of the wonders that God has put on Earth – the unbelievable night sky, the sunsets and sunrises, the rain storms – and allows you to easily forget the base on which you've stood strong for so long.

So, anyway, I opened up the ol' Bible tonight with a short prayer that God just direct me to some passage that would just give me a bit of a push. I paged through the Bible fairly randomly and, not surprisingly, ended up in Psalms. I write in my Bible a lot, and I noticed Psalms 51 was circled, so I looked it over. Then Truth walked in and sat down.

Sometimes Christ saunters over to me (yes my God saunters) with a couple of Dr. Peppers (ya Jesus loves Dr. Pepper and so do I), sits down across from me and just starts talking. Like old friends we discuss the weather, the global political scene, and make the same old inside jokes about Judas, Catholics (hehehehehe…just kidding my Catholic friends), and Samaritans (lucky for me I don't know any Samaritans, so I don't have to apologize for that comment ;)). But, like a true best friend He notices I'm a little off, a little slow to laugh, a little distracted. Instead of prodding me, He simply keeps talking, peering into my soul through simple questions, observations, and comments. He asks me if I'm enjoying Mali, if I noticed the stars last night, and if I'd given any thought to the way the African storms sound in the middle of the night. Before I know it, I'm opening up without meaning to, and He simply listens and nods, allows me to get off my chest all my frustrations, joys, and questions. As we finish our drinks He stands up and throws his arms around me and asks me why I didn't call earlier, why I didn't tell him about all this before, why I spent so much time carrying my own burdens. Usually I tear up when He does this. I don't expect it. Usually I expect Him to tell me what I did I wrong and how I should feel guilty for such loathsome actions. So, his blatant and unashamed display of love takes me off guard and I can't help but become overwhelmed with relief and hope.

There are a lot of things I don't understand about God. In fact, most things I don't understand about God. I don't understand Judgment, the existence of a Hell confuses me, I'm perplexed by the dogged perseverance with which God pursues humanity despite our constant unfaithfulness, I have serious existential questions about the nature of sin and death and religion and the interpretation of scripture and the infallibility of the Bible; however, if there has ever been one thing I'm certain of, it's that God is relentless in his love for me. Time and time again I close my eyes and my ears, slam my mind shut to Him, but each and every time He sets before me such Raging Beauty that I can't help but open my eyes, unstop my ears, and refocus my attention to the Creation and Love that streams past me. Once I do, I can't understand why for so long I chose blindness over beauty, and isolation over love.

I don't mean to preach, and I hope I don't sound that way. I mostly am writing as a cathartic release, in an acknowledgment of the Truth that has sat down before me. God is just so startlingly real sometimes. He can also be severely distant. But today, thank God today, He knocked on the door of my heart and I opened the door in order to eat with him. (Check out Revelation 3:20…one of my favorite verses). God doesn't want to come in to my life and throw all my shit – sorry mom, but don't forget the word "shit" is in the Bible -- on the curb and berate me into obedience…he just wants to eat with me….that's frickin cool. That's the Christ I read about in the gospels, the one that partied with sinners and reached out to the margins of society and breathed life into people who'd been determined worthless by the religious world. That's the God that died to redeem Creation and restore our Glory. It just blows me away. He wants to eat with me, and He brought me a Dr. Pepper. ;)

Gypsy on.

Land of Pure Imagination

2008-08-18T23:52:00.000-07:00

So Bamako rocks. I spent the week eating yummy food (well we call it Mali Good, which translates to America OK).

The university is huge! I'm excited about working there, but it is a daunting task. Alec and I found a house to live in that is walking distance from the university and the local market, so that's good. The house is pretty awesome and I even have a kitchen. YAY! I can bake! (First, however, I need to buy and oven....but all things in good time).

It's hard to even blog about my time there because it seems like an overwhelming task. Basically it's a big African city just like you'd probably imagine. Dirty, animals in the street, huge, loud, but oddly exciting and pulsating with life.

I'm pretty stoked. Back to homestay today, though. 3 LONG weeks of homestay. Sigh....i can make it. I can't wait until training is over. Swear in is September 12 (I think, I can't actually remember).

Shout out to everyone who has sent me a letter or package. Thanks mom and Grandma :) And Thomas, yours is somewhere in the Mali mail system....SCARY ;) Nah it'll come sooner or later :)

Anyway, I'll be awhile before I can get back on I'm guessing. But no worries, next time I'm back I won't be living out of a backpack and I'll actually have a house WOOT!

Gypsy on!

Bamako or Bust

2008-08-08T10:17:00.000-07:00

I leave for Bamako tomorrow. Leave is a strong word...i'm only like 10 minutes from Bamako while residing at Tubaniso. But all the same I'm staying with another PVC who's been in Mali for 2 years and we're gonna see the town!

I'm hoping to get a look at my future work place, and see a bit of the fun in and around the capital city of Mali. I'll let you know how it goes.....

I did receive a handbook put together by PCV's of years past detailing all the good places to go, eat, and be entertained in Bamako. Some of my favorites include American Embassy flag football, Hash Runs, and a softball team full of American ex-pats. Oh and there is chinese food. Woot.

Gypsy on.

2008-08-07T13:23:00.000-07:00

Pictures :) it's not many but the connection is so slow here....they are all of my family and my concession and what not....enjoy

Pictures

Violently Ill

2008-08-06T14:58:00.000-07:00

So i got the ameobas. Yep Ameboas are not fun. At all. I won't go into graphic detail, but it involved severe digestive problems, fever, and fatigue that started Sunday and ended late Monday night. I couldn't walk to and from the bathroom (and I went there a lot) without my heart rate going to about 120. It was awesome.

It was actually kind of funny cause the night i was sick there was a lighting storm and i'm squatting over a hole in the ground filled with water while throwing up in a bucket while lightening is threatening to strike at any time. All I could think was this was not the way I wanted to die. It was pretty humerous. (sorry that got more graphic than some of you would have liked...but it was really funny)

I'm on meds now and feeling great though. First major sickness tackled! HOORAA!

My family was great while i was sick. They kept trying to feed me, but the last thing i wanted was food. It's the though that counts. Additionally, they brought me water to bathe with and take to the Nyegen with me. They checked in on me several times too.

My friend Alec also came over a lot and brought me a Sprite and just generally made sure I was okay. Yay for good friends and host families :)

Back at Tubaniso, I'll update more soon.

Gypsy on.

August 1

2008-08-06T14:47:00.001-07:00

August 1, 2008

August is here. That was fast.

Some recent observations about Mali…

I'm surprised at how good my dad is with his kids. He's actually really cute with them. I would have guessed a patriarchal society that oppresses women wouldn't have such nice men. Stereotyping proven wrong again. My dad is a great guy and his family seems genuinely happy.

Apparently the Penis-snatching debacle I posted about a few months ago is true. Not only true but my otherwise level headed Malian teachers, Mohammad and Sagio, both believe that witch doctors really CAN steal your penis. WHAT???!??? They really believe this? Sagio told me that the doctors put something on their hand and when they shake your hand it makes your penis 3 cm…..really? Someone do some research on this! This could be a new way to Bobbitt a dude. Is it weird that Bobbitt doesn't show up on a spell check as a misspelled word?

In this same conversation with my teachers (it was a cross culture session) we were talking about the animist religions and fortune tellers. Mohammad and Sagio, interestingly enough, don't believe that the fortune tellers can help you change your life, but they do believe that they have special psychic powers, or at least some of them do. Furthermore, Mohammad, a devout Muslim, told me he didn't worry about the witch doctors and fortune tellers cursing him because all he needed was God to protect him. It was one of those moments where the similarities of Christianity and Islam really shone through. Here was a man who believed in "another" (albeit the same…but you know what I mean) God than I do and yet he took the words right out of my mouth.

This has turned out to be one of the many times where I'm intellectually challenged in my walk with God. Looking at my amazing, genuine, good friends and teachers, Mohammad and Sagio, I just can't come to terms with the idea that I'm supposed to think they're wrong about life and God. The only thing that keeps me sane in believing in God is that I can just as easily be wrong too; without that constant companion of doubt I might just go and explode from a big head. I just hope none of us have to have it all right, otherwise we're all in a heap of it.

Funny enough, God can't keep you from the Penis Snatchers. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That just doesn't get old….penis snatchers.

In Americans missing America news….our little group here in Sanankoroba got together and bbq-d hamburgers. It was delicious. We made French fries and fried plantains as side dishes. I made myself sick. I'm borderline miserable full as I'm writing this now.

All in all Mali is wonderful. The people are kind, tolerant, and accepting; the weather is actually amazing (you should see the thunderstorm going on outside my door right now), and the country is poor in pocket but rich in spirit.

Gypsy on

2008-07-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

I'm returning to homestay tomorrow, and I'm pretty excited.

Although it has been nice to see a bunch of other americans and eat decent food, I miss my family. I'm excited to see what i've missed in the soap opera and chat with my dad and brothers. It'll be good to try and make malian tea again with my moms while they laugh at me for being a stupid american woman. I'm also STOKED to get back to our Neygen. The potties here are gross and small and you basically have to shower stradling your poo hole. My "bathroom" at homestay is clean and has enough room that you can bathe without feeling like your getting dirty while you're doing it.

I'll be back to Tubaniso in about a week. After a couple days here I'll leave for site visit. Site visit is when I actually go to Bamako to see where I'll be living and working. I'm very excited about this. :)

A couple of emails I've gotten have asked me what I'd like sent. Honestly, I'm not even sure! Any yummy american snacks that can stand a 4 week transit and heat are welcome.

Some ideas from the Peace Corps Volunteers here are:

-spices (I love garlic salt and cinnamon)

-oreos/other yummy american cookies like nutter butters

-gummie bears

-sour candy that doesn't melt

-peanut butter (jif or skippy make a natural one that is no stir and no refridgerate....yummy)

-skittles

-starburst

-crackers

-parmesean cheese (i know that sounds weird but apparently it's good to send)

-seasoning packets (like taco and what not)

Honestly, i don't even care. A letter would be great!

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well and all is peace (that's a bambara phrase).

Love you all and miss you crazy!!!!!!

Gypsy on

Updates

2008-07-28T12:13:00.001-07:00

Okay I've been without internet for awhile because I've been at homestay, but I've been blogging all along. The blogsare postedbelow. I miss everyone!

I'm at the peace corps training center again, and this is the only place i have internet for the next two months. I come here sporadically but I'll keep blogging toeven when i don't have internet.

Happy birthday Thomas, I love you babe.

Gypsy on.

July 16

Bonjour, comment allez-vous? J m'appelle Aminatou Traore

I'm finally experiencing Mali. I moved in with my host family yesterday in Sanakoroba, just south of Bamako. I am joined in my town of less than 8000 by 6 other PCT (Peace Corps Trainees, the government loves acronyms). Each of us is living by ourselves in the home of Malians.

I was met at the bus by my host sister Aminatou, who I was later named after, and her brother Sedou. They asked me something in Bamabara or French, I have no idea which though, and when I looked confused, picked up my bag and gave me the signal to follow. I followed them through the mud (it had stormed the night before) and between houses, soccer fields, and ditches until we came to a walled enclosure that held a 4-5 buildings. I was home.

My family is baffling. My Bua (father) is a mason I have gathered and has more than one wife. I can't tell exactly how many, but it is either 2 or 3. Muslims can have up to 4 wives if they have the money to take care of each on equally. The reason I can't tell who is who is because I don't know if some are neighbors who visit often, daughters who are older, or some other relation. It is all very confusing. In addtion, there are about 10-15 children that are always in our concession (the name for the walled in area…it's like a courtyard). Children range in age from barely walking to at least 22. Don't even ask me which child belongs to which wife….i have no idea.

My first day consisted of a lot of staring at each other. I know enough Bambara to be polite and almost no French. The kids were mildly amazed but too afraid to come near me and the women were too busy cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the men to have time for much else.

The food that comes out of the kitchen in the courtyard is as of yet tolerable. Even the To isn't so bad that I can't get it down. To is what has been referred to as playdoh with snot sauce by other Tubobs (the word for foreigner and any other white person who happens to wander into a group of children "Tubob! Tubob! Hello Tubob!" ) Mostly I eat something like rice, to, or millet with some sort of sauce made out of meat, or plants. I'm learning what it's like to eat for sustenance, not because you actually like eating.

Toward the evening, a television emerged from the main building and people came out of the woodwork to gather around to watch some god awful brasilian soap opera. The men were so into it that they started arguing at each other, either that or arguing with the TV….it's hard to tell. I finally said good night and returned to my own room where I fell asleep immediately.

Today, I ate breakfast with my Bua, Bamako bread (like a hard stale subway roll) with Malian peanut butter, which is good but definitely not as good as American peanut butter. After that, we shared some porridge like goop out of a common bowl (in Mali you always eat out of a common bowl). It is interesting that my Bua eats with me because normally men only share their bowl with men and women with women; however I am told that being American makes me half man to Malians, and I am allowed privileges Malian women are not

After lunch, I went to class and spent the day learning basic French greetings. This has helped immensely already! I feel like I'm doing WAY better today than even yesterday with understanding French. At lunch I went back to my house to eat some non-descript food. After eating, I went over to where the kids were standing in the yard, and I was met only by stares. I bent down, picked up a stick and began drawing a hop-scotch. Soon I had about 20 kids swarming me trying to hold my hand and climb my body. Apparently, I had broken the ice and hop-scotch was a new found hit for Malian kids. I had to leave for class again much to the chagrin of my new pack.

After class, however, I was greeted at the beginning of my road by 5 youngsters who grabbed my hand, my water bottles, and my books and led me the rest of the way home. Once there, they took me to the middle of the yard and started to try and teach me Malian games. I even showed them how to build a sand castle with a pile of sand like dirt that just happened to be lying around. The kids kept repeating castle and then started bringing me objects to name in English…rock, chair, string, wire, etc. Next thing you know, 20 kids are yelling "AMINATOU AMINATOU" and then they do a cartwheel or a sommersault or a karate kick and ask me how to say it in English. It was a great game, and by the end of it I had a devoted fan club.

The rest of the evening passed similar to the first with a brasilian soap opera, eating with my bua and his oldest son, etc.

Life is good. (oh and I'm not sick yet……knock on wood ;))

Gypsy on.

July 20, 2008

The good news, my French is much better than it was even 4 days ago. I can almost communicate basic needs! The bad news, I got sick. Oh well it's bound to happen to us all. I started feeling very tired and nauseas yesterday, and by this morning I had some full-blown digestive problems. Honestly, though, it isn't so bad. Mostly I've just lost my appetite….but maybe that's just because the food is so….interesting (Peace Corps suggests we not say anything negative about our host country because you never know if they may find your blog….lol). Actually, one of my host moms, I have two (polygamy is so much fun!) made some roasted peanuts today and they were DELICIOUS. Then again perhaps my reference point of delicious has changed dramatically in the last week.

Family life is good. I really enjoy my evenings here watching Brasilian soap operas and playing with the kiddos. The stars are so bright at night, especially tonight. I think it must be a new moon or something because I'm seeing stars that I've never seen before in my life. Even the stars on the horizon are clear. Somebody send me an astronomy book ASAP, I need to relearn my constellations.

In other news one of my young brothers, Fatabe, has a crush on me. He's probably 9. My older host brother teases me about it and tells me I should take him back to Los Angeles with me. J Mali is full of jokes. People here are laughing all the time. My host dad has a smile that lights up the concession (can't say room…cause well we don't really go inside).

All in all, I'm really loving Mali so far. The food is….interesting, the digestive problems bothersome; but the people are wonderful and life in a 3^rd world country has a certain charm that developed nations just can't capture.

I know there was more I wanted to write about, but I'm exhausted. Me and my 60 crickets I share my room with are going to bed. (ya I'm serious, I have A LOT of crickets in my room. Thank God for mosquito nets). Until next time,

Gypsy on.

July 23, 2008

Life in Mali has become almost routine. I've eaten To five times, and this last time I found it inoffensive. I guess I'm getting used to things. I'm also learning to chew carefully since the rice holds unexpected goods like rocks, dirt, and animal bones????

Classes are progressing per usual, and other than visiting a bar after class things are pretty much the same. The bar doubles as a brothel…which is awkward to say the least. But they have cold drinks and a nice courtyard to sit in…..

I've been indulging in Mangoes a lot lately as the season is coming to a close. The mangoes here are divine and are certainly the highlight of the cuisine. That was until I was eating a mango yesterday and came to some grubs in the middle of it….i don't' think I ate any….but you never know. At least I've seen enough Man vs. Wild to know that the grubs aren't going to hurt me…otherwise I think I would have thrown up on spot ;) lo

Surviving Mali so far….

Gypsy on

July 24, 2008

URGENT: Running out of graham crackers and peanut butter. Send snacks soon.

Tiffany Bailey PCT

Corps De La Paix

BP 85

Bamako, Mali WEST AFRICA

Be sure to put the west Africa…apparently the world isn't aware of where Mali actually is and it may end up in Bali or Malawi….

Thanks

End message.

I live in Mali!!!!

2008-07-14T02:49:00.000-07:00

I don't like work -- no man does, but i like what is in work, the chance to find oneself

- Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness

After a 5 hour flight to Philly, 3 days of training, another 5 hour flight to Pairs, and a final 6 hour flight to Bamako...i'm here.

First impressions: Africa, well at least Mali, smells different. Perhaps it's my lean towards the literary, but the aroma seems to excite the baser instincts. It's a muddy, musty, wild smell. Either that or jet fuel...perhaps I shouldn't have read so much Conrad before leaving.

After getting our bags admist a muggy swarm of bodies and hands, passing them through a rather ineffective customs x-ray machine and loading them on a peace corps truck in the middle of the night we climbed aboard the Peace Corps bus and were whisked away to the Tubaniso compound, affectionately called Camp Peace Corps.

Here at Tubaniso we were immediately introduced to the Nyegen. This is the Malian version of the bathroom. The luxurious comode comes complete with cement walls and a small, barely adequate, hole in the ground. Late afternoon it comes complete with a swarm of flies. It's rather lovely. So far I've navigated the Nyegen without any MAJOR mishaps and i've avoided using the saledegon, a tea kettle malians use in lieu of toilet paper. I myself am sticking to a rather american version of the Nyegen and brought toilet paper in.

The saledegon ritual leads Malians to avoid using their left hand in most polite situations. No eating, shaking, or passing things to people with your left hand. We tried eating with our right hands only (sans utensils of course) and i ended up with most of the rice in my lap and on my face. It's rough.

I'm living in a small hut with 2 other girls. It comes complete with mosquito nets and looks very much like what you are imagining, but it's made of cement not mud and has a tin roof (although some have a thatch roof). Our second night it we had a rain storm (it is rainy season here, which means it's humid and around 80-100 each day depending). The rainstorm woke me up and kept me awake for about 40 minutes because of the roar of the drops on our tin roof. It was pretty spectacular.

I'm not really in Mali yet, I've spent all my time here at the compound and although I've had some Malian food, they are introducing it slowly so our bowels can adjust. So far so good. The traditional Malian food we've had so far includes porridge (not so good), rice (yum), assorted sketcy meats (i avoid meat altogether), beans, and plantains. We also had a cultural fair in which they fried different doughs, they were delicious.

The majority of the day is spent in class. I've been learning about diversity, security, Malian do's and don'ts (including the fact that women cannot whistle but men can but only during the day because it attracts demons).

I've got very little to report, but tomorrow i leave to actually LIVE in Mali with a Malian family in a Malian village eating Malian food and speaking Malian languages (Bambara and French). Stay tuned for more! I'm pretty excited, but very nervous for the next 2 months with a bunch of strangers in a strange land.

Let it begin!

Gypsy on

I just really like Soren

2008-06-27T19:09:00.000-07:00

Some of my favorite Kierkegaard:

How absurd men are! They never use the liberties they have, they demand those they do not have. They have freedom of thought, they demand freedom of speech.

Just as in earthly life lovers long for the moment when they are able to breathe forth their love for each other, to let their souls blend in a soft whisper, so the mystic longs for the moment when in prayer he can, as it were, creep into God.

Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it.

Purity of heart is to will one thing.

The highest and most beautiful things in life are not to be heard about, not read about, nor seen, but if one will, are to be lived.

I'm going to wear a sandwich board

2008-06-25T00:54:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to watching Blood Diamond. How I waited this long to see it is a mystery. Many years ago I made a conscious decision to never buy a diamond, yet I never went to see a movie that was anti-diamond. In fact, I'd been against diamonds for a few years before I'd even heard of the movie (ya i know I'm so forward thinking and cool...no wait i think i jumped on the band wagon when one of my cool progressive friends told me about the diamond debacle...okay I'm not cool just a sad sad follower who envies people who really ARE informed).

Anyway all this is beside the point. The movie was quite well done and rather enjoyable, but it lacked a real in-depth look at the facts. I was disappointed to say the least. I hate to step on toes, knowing how many of my lovely friends and family wear diamonds, and I mean no offense. It's simply a choice I've made based on facts that I've been given which have created and emotional response in me that were a catalyst to a moral decision. All that to say I don't judge you based on your bling.

There are several reasons I don't buy diamonds, including:

1. Diamonds in and of themselves are worthless. De Beers has a monopoly, meaning ALL diamonds come from them. ALL (they buy up the ones that they don't actually mine). It's the last great cartel on earth. I don't like cartels, I'm a good capitalist (well socialist, but whatever). Furthermore, De Beers actually price controls by only selling a fraction of the diamonds they actually have. Diamonds, as De Beers says, really "are forever." You can't sell them. Have you tried? They have no value except in pawn shops, and there it is at a fraction of their original price.

2. Open diamond pits are bad for the environment. The minerals, chemicals, oils, and all the crap that mines make leaches into ground water and poisons it, killing animals and plants, even people, that are down stream from them.

3. Diamond mines are often located on indigenous peoples' land. In Canada, Africa, India, and Australia people have been displaced in order for the diamond supply to continue. Often at the expense of their culture and health.

4. I don't like being told I NEED a diamond. De Beers marketing is ingenious they've convinced the world that you can't be married without a diamond ring. This is preposterous and totally fabricated in the name of profit. And I like to be free of such uncool constraints as marketing, which is why I drink sprite and use an apple computer. (Yes that last bit is tongue in cheek, it comes across much better when i say it sarcastically in person).

There is more, however. And it gets worse. I want to tell you what Blood Diamond didn't. The movie gives a rather incomplete picture of what a conflict diamond is, claiming less than 1% of diamonds are conflict. Even more Utopian, one can actually buy diamonds that are certified as "non-conflict" This is simply untrue. All diamonds are conflict diamonds, the certificate is meaningless.

Here's why:

1. You can't be sure they weren't mined by warlords using children as their personal gun toting body guards. Diamonds can be laundered and "cleaned" of their dirty past.

2. Diamond smuggling is intimately connected to the small arms trade. Buy diamonds and you are supporting illegal gun sales across the world.

3. MOST IMPORTANTLY! Almost all diamonds (estimates on the conservative side say more than one half), regardless of where they are mined, are sent to India for cleaning, cutting, and polishing. If a diamond is mined in Canada and is certified non-conflict it still goes to India. What happens in India you ask? Slave laborers and bonded children are used to transform a raw diamond into something that can be used in jewelry. This means that children are sold as virtual slaves to pay off a relatives debt. This debt, of course, can't be paid off in one lifetime and when the the child is an adult, the debt is passed on to their children or another younger sibling.

THERE IS HOPE! I want to point out that diamonds are not just decorative they are useful in drills and other uhh stuff (shrugs shoulders at what said stuff is, but knows it's out there and has long technical names). We are redeemed though. Diamonds can now be made in labs. And I'm not talking cubic z's. REAL DIAMONDS that are molecularily identical to mined diamonds. You can't tell the difference between them. NO ONE CAN. okay that's not true and expert can occasionally pick them out simply because the grown diamonds are PERFECT. Flawless. No mined diamond in the world is flawless. So if you really want one, buy a lab diamond. It's better and cheaper.

All of this leads me to the conclusion that I cannot, in good conscious, wear a diamond. Chances are, it's either a true conflict diamond (as in a blood diamond), or at the very least passed through the hands of a slave laborer, poisoned the waters of a village, or displaced a community of people. Diamonds just aren't as beautiful as the lives of the people they destroy.

Okay. It's out. I've said it. I'm sure I've stepped on toes. But be assured, I'm no angel. It's struck me recently that I own a lot of books. That's a lot of dead trees. Even more, it's a lot of money i could have spent to solve world hunger. I mean we have libraries. I could be renting books for free and saving paper. But I really like having them on my shelf. It's a pride thing. I can say look at me I'm smart. If I had all the money I've spent on books, I could have fed a village of Africans for life. So I'll humbly get off my soap box and pull the planks out of my own eye.

"Participating in the Creative life of the Creator" -- Imago Dei

2008-06-16T02:10:00.000-07:00

I made a comment in my last post about the disparity between humanity's most beautiful endeavours and his basest atrocities.

My mother cries if someone else in the room is crying, even if she doesn't know why. My father cries at hallmark commercials (sorry dad, i outed you). The older I get the more I, too, cry at the drop of a hat. Recently, I've found myself choked up at the oddest moments: like watching fireworks at Epcot -- I love Disney, but not that much. Why cry? I even found myself tearing up while watching Cirque De Soliel with Thomas -- What the hell could be sentimental about that?

It struck me on both of those occasions that humans are capable of beauty that borders on genius: music, film, painting, grace, sculpture, poetry, and acts of love. From the great works of Michaelangelo, Keats, and Picasso to the simplest moments of kindness.

But it wasn't just the grandeur of moment that caused that inevitable bit of water around the eyes, it was the fact that everyday we are surrounded by it's converse. By greed, war, poverty, and hate. We see genocide, fear-mongering based on religion, race, and creed, and ugly weapons being built for even uglier wars. In our lives we are capable of jealousy, envy, and anger. But it becomes worse, much worse. George Bernard Shaw, an Irish playwright that won the Nobel Prize, once said "The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity." We walk past the destitute, we avert our eyes to the woman crying alone a table, and we claim that their suffering is not our business.

Humans are so good and so terrible. "Do I contradict myself, very well, then i contradict myself. I am large, I contain multitudes" (Whitman, Song of Myself).

We, I, am able to create and destroy beauty. I will do well to remember this because humanity is so easily attracted to destruction. To destroy is human, to create one literally becomes god-like. Transcending to such a level takes much more work.

Gypsy On.

20 days....

2008-06-14T12:39:00.000-07:00

I've been rather absent as of late haven't I. Apologies...life and what not.

Well i went 10 days with no food. In the end I'm glad I did it and I lost a ton of weight and hopefully some toxins. However, after 2 weeks in Flordia, 10 days without food, and a few days in Portland I've managed to not run in A MONTH! I went for my first jog today. 2 miles later I'm whipped, but it's a start.

Things I'm pondering:

What music to download off Itunes for Africa. Suggestions please...what songs/artists/albums would YOU take to Africa?

Along the same lines, which books would you bring?

The disparity between man's greatest acts of beauty and their basest acts of evil. It's a wonder we are able to contain such multitudes.

Gypsy on.

Oh and an update. I am staging in Philly. (Staging is where I meet my Peace Corps group, learn about how to not get AIDS and how not to get robbed. Then I get shots....sounds fun! hehehehe) Then I fly out of Philly to Paris then to Mali....or that's the rumor anyway.

The Master Cleanse

2008-05-28T12:42:00.000-07:00

I'm in the middle of a 10 day detox (day 3). The detox involves a laxative tea, a salt water flush every morning, and drinking a mixture of lemon juice, water, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. Pretty weird, huh? I'm still skeptical about all the claims this cleanse makes (Google "The Master Cleanse") but I'm actually feeling good other than being a bit hungry. The cleanse is supposed to clean your major organs and get rid of any toxins that are lingering around in your body from preservatives and processed foods. It also is supposed to clean your intestines of any old food and nasty just stuck there....yucky i know.

Anyway, if nothing else, I can use 10 days of cleaning up my body after 10 days of chowing down in the happiest place on earth.

Gypsy on

Out of Office Reply

2008-05-20T21:07:00.000-07:00

I'm in Disney World...be back later. :)

Cheers

This Blog

2008-05-09T16:32:00.000-07:00

"I am going to Africa because I wish to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I cannot learn what it has to teach, and not, when I come to die, to discover that I did not live. I do not wish to live what is not life, living is so dear; nor do I wish to practice resignation, unless it is quite necessary. I want to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that is not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proves to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it is sublime, to know it by experience, and to be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion." --a bastardized version of Henry David Thoreau's Walden

It's the last day of work. I'm feeling quite liberated. It's not to say this place was actually the 9th circle of Dante's hell as Paul (my favorite witty coworker) said, it's just not exactly intellectually stimulating. I'm feeling rather free from drudgery right now. Free to research, free to write, free to actually use my brain. It's gonna be great.

So for those that are a bit slow, the title of my blog is drawn directly from the original version of the quote above. Okay, okay Thoreau was a bit of a poser...but he still lived on Walden, even if he did borrow all his stuff from other people and visit the city often...he's still a brilliant writer, after all. I mean just look at On Civil Disobediance, now there is some fine writing.

Why am I going to Africa? To find what it means to live. it's the reason I do everything really. What does it mean to be alive in the very largest sense? Later in Walden Thoreau writes that to be alive is to be awake. Further, he claims that no man has ever been truly awake...God I want to be awake! In my life I've never been so awake as when I am dedicated to serving the people around me. It's strange, it's like I am more myself when I'm working for the Good (I tentatively use that term in the Platonic sense...at least for this moment...right now) than I am at any other time in my life. It's so hard to explain it's like I'm more me in an earthy yet spiritual way...it's like being filled up, with your true self. It's so exciting. It's better than any feeling I've ever experienced. Even little things, like making cookies for people just to let them know someone on this earth cares. Someone actually wishes to lighten their burden, if even through a warm gooey mess of chocolate. Sigh...why am I going to Africa? Because I truly believe I will be more myself there than I've ever been anywhere.

Anyway, from here on out this blog may take new direction (as of yet it has had none). Literature, Mali, and my political musings will likely take up much more space than it has in the past. In other words, hopefully i'll succeed in some semi-intelligent conversation...but that's just a long term goal.

Things I'll be doing in my post job life:

Trail Running
Mountain Biking
Lifting
Reading philosophy
Reading anything my smart friends have on their favorite book lists: this means you Brent
Organizing my life so I can leave America without any warrants or credit problems
Writing poetry (ah it's been much too long)
Learning new words
Getting a tan
Reading Latin American authors. I'm absolutely in love with the latin voice.
Learning French

I think that should take up the next two months...

Til next time friends

GYPSY ON!

Beware of the Penis Snatchers

2008-04-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

Wow...moving to West Africa is going to be awesome. I'm laughing...but the part about lynchings is a little...unnerving. See article below (i pulled it off drudge)

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men's penises after a wave of panic and attempted lynchings triggered by the alleged witchcraft.

Reports of so-called penis snatching are not uncommon in West Africa, where belief in traditional religions and witchcraft remains widespread, and where ritual killings to obtain blood or body parts still occur.

Rumors of penis theft began circulating last week in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo's sprawling capital of some 8 million inhabitants. They quickly dominated radio call-in shows, with listeners advised to beware of fellow passengers in communal taxis wearing gold rings.

Purported victims, 14 of whom were also detained by police, claimed that sorcerers simply touched them to make their genitals shrink or disappear, in what some residents said was an attempt to extort cash with the promise of a cure.

"You just have to be accused of that, and people come after you. We've had a number of attempted lynchings. ... You see them covered in marks after being beaten," Kinshasa's police chief, Jean-Dieudonne Oleko, told Reuters on Tuesday.

Police arrested the accused sorcerers and their victims in an effort to avoid the sort of bloodshed seen in Ghana a decade ago, when 12 suspected penis snatchers were beaten to death by angry mobs. The 27 men have since been released.

"I'm tempted to say it's one huge joke," Oleko said.

"But when you try to tell the victims that their penises are still there, they tell you that it's become tiny or that they've become impotent. To that I tell them, 'How do you know if you haven't gone home and tried it'," he said.

Some Kinshasa residents accuse a separatist sect from nearby Bas-Congo province of being behind the witchcraft in revenge for a recent government crackdown on its members.

"It's real. Just yesterday here, there was a man who was a victim. We saw. What was left was tiny," said 29-year-old Alain Kalala, who sells phone credits near a Kinshasa police station.

(Editing by Nick Tattersall and Mary Gabriel)

I heart Portland

2008-04-10T14:50:00.000-07:00

I stole this from my friend Rose.
Portland has more bumper stickers per capita than anywhere else in America.

We have some of the funniest bumper stickers too:
Legalize Tofu
What would Scooby do?
WWXD? (what would Xena do?)
Stop continental drift.
My other car is a piece of crap, too.
No food with a face.
Vegetarians taste better.
Keep Portland weird.

We have our own food pyramid. At the bottom is espresso.

If you carry an umbrella, we know you're not local.

If you dye your hair, we know you're not local.

You'll think by looking at us that we are completely oblivious to the rain. We don't use umbrellas. We don't bother to put up our hoods. However, there's one clue that lets you know that we do notice whether or not it's raining. In the rain, we wear clogs. No rain? We wear sandals. It doesn't matter if it's January.

Portlanders love micro-brew beer. We don't really care what they taste like as long as they have interesting labels.

Portland is one of the few places in the world outside of France where you can take your dog to pubs.

Portland pre-schoolers play at indoor play park during the rainy seasons.

You may think that we're a bunch of tree huggers. But we know better. Them tree huggers live in Seattle.

We think valet parking is like bragging. It's just poor manners.

Portland is one of those few places in the world where real estate prices go up when there's a good independent coffee shop in the neighborhood. Starbucks doesn't cut it.

Portlanders are anti-chain. We like the little guy and we want to shop local. So local that we don't even want to shop outside our neighborhoods sometimes.

The most ordered beverage in Portland is a half caff, 16 oz, soy latte. Beware, if you say, half decaf, this will label you as a non-local.

At the Oregon zoo, Pachy, the senior elephant in residence gets a birthday party with his own birthday cake every year. The flavor? Carrot cake.

Beaverton is the city in Oregon where you're most likely to give birth on the way to the hospital cause you're stuck in traffic.

When in Beaverton, make sure that you get your vocabulary straight. You gotta called Nike's headquarters a "campus".

If you live in Lake Oswego, then chances are you're not a native Oregonian. You're likely to be from California or New York. That explains why real estate prices are higher here. Then again, so is the appreciation.

One jammed hip later

2008-04-07T12:32:00.000-07:00

The race went awesome. It was a great trail!

I'm VERY happy with my times and my running. I finished around 1:54 and for a hilly course, i think that's pretty great. I got 12th in my age group (outta 110) and 254th outta 1266 runners total (male and female).

After finishing, I enjoyed the post race festivities with thomas and went back home for a shower and a nap. Upon waking, however, i realized that my right hip was jammed during the run (too much running down hill i guess). But no problem today it's feeling almost completly normal, and i'm gonna do a nice easy 4-6 miler today (depending on how i feel mid run).

Next up, a 4 mile Xterra trail race. I love this race. It was my very first race ever a year ago. Last year I came in second, but this year i moved up an age group which, contrary to what you'd believe, makes it harder. It seems that my new age group is a peak time for "serious" runners, so i'm just gonna train hard and see what happens. Xterra races are my FAVORITE, and this is the last one i can compete in before i leave for Mali, so i'm pretty excited.

In other exciting weekend news...thomas and i went to the farmers market again this weekend and bought a bunch of fruit. mmmdelicious. Buy local!

Gypsy on!

Runnin on love

2008-04-04T09:44:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day! I'm bib #2312 for the Dole Great Race!!! I'm running my second half marathon, and have no plan to PR. Although I'm in better shape thanI was for last August for the HulaMan Half Marathon, this race is on trails and has more hills. I'm used to running hills though, so hopefully i don't peeter out :)

Plan for today is rest, drink water, eat spaghetti, and have a little gatorade just before bed. Then, I'll be up just before 6 to be to the race around 6:15. Start time is 7am, hopefully all over and sittin on a curb eating post race party food by 9. My last time was 1:49 or something like that...I'm hoping to get under 2 this time. But I'm not going to concentrate on my time so much as enjoying the race and finishing.

7 weeks ago i couldn't even run because of an ankle injury, so i'm pretty happy just to be able to feel as confident as I do. I'm not a half-marathoner to be honest...i so much prefer the 6-9 mile range, but it's good to go outside my comfort zone occasionally :)

After the race I'm plannin on hittin up the farmer's market and then home to bed. :) I'll let you know how it goes...

And it continues...

2008-04-03T09:14:00.001-07:00

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080403090321.69k7ygb4&show_article=1

BOYCOTT BEIJING

Sex is weird...the gender kind, not the heavy panting one

2008-04-01T10:39:00.002-07:00

I recently have become interested in (thanks to a drudge article) transgender issues. The Drudge article was a short memo on a 6 year old boy who is dressing and living as a girl with the support of his family(I would use the preferred pronoun, but for sake of clarity I'll stick with their biological gender pronoun). The article mentioned a Barbara Walters special on 20/20 that had previously aired about Transgender Kids. I went home and youtubed that up, and proceeded to learn more about this 6 year old boy turned girl, a 10 year old boy turned girl, and a 17 year old girl turned boy.

It was fascinating. I mean here we have a two year old boy correcting his mother that he is a "good girl, not a good boy," and an 18-month old boy unsnapping his onesy to "make a dress." Each of the three children had been diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder and, apparently, their brains really were the opposite gender of their bodies (or so the psychologists said).

I thought to myself, originally, that these parents were indulging a fantasy that every kid has. I know for me, I never wanted to be a girl as a kid. I didn't want to shave, I didn't want wear a bra, and I wanted nothing to do with periods, the color pink, or dolls. I wanted to be a boy. I wanted to be in boy scouts, I wanted to wear jeans, I wanted to be a cowboy and a soldier and play guns. With all this in mind I'm thinking these kids are just weird. This seemed, to me, to be a phase...but that's when one of the mothers made a comment that blew me away....

She said, "It is one thing for a boy to say I WANT to be girl, and quite another for them to say I AM a girl." Suddenly, the playing field changed. As a kid I never IDENTIFIED myself as male. I wanted to be male, and then I outgrew it and, now, could not imagine having to be a boy...yucky, I'm quite happy in my girl body. These kids actually BELIEVE themselves to be the opposite gender. One mother told the heartbreaking story of a her 10 year old son who, when she peaked in the bathroom while he was showering, held a washcloth over his privates while washing his hair with the other hand. It's as if a TEN YEAR OLD couldn't stand to see himself as a gender he didn't feel. That isn't learned behavior. No amount of bad parenting (and for the record these families seemed to fall within the normal range) or media can lead to that kind of behavior. I mean that is a child in torment. He's not doing it for show or attention, he really is that uncomfortable with himself as a boy.

I've been pondering this for about a week now, the moral and spiritual implications of transgender people. My natural instinct is to say it doesn't matter, that there is nothing wrong with being transgender. I just love loving and accepting. I'm also not convinced of absolute gender. On the other hand, I'm afraid. I'm afraid I'm wrong. I'm afraid my baby boy will tell me he is a girl. I'm afraid my child will become so miserable in his male body that he will become depressed, suicidal, and angry (the 10 year old boy was this way until his conservative parents allowed him to express himself as a girl). I'm pretty sure that if I had a son like that, I'd let him wear a dress. I just don't think I could watch him suffer.

Then again, these kids have a life of suffering ahead of them...classrooms, religion, small minds...our world just isn't nice to transgender people, probably cause we're scared. Maybe scared for good reason, but probably just scared cause their different. We're always afraid of people who are different. Navagating a fallen world is rough.

Gypsy on

Gearing Up

2008-03-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to get together everything i need for my 2 years in Mali. I'm trying to stay basic...i HATE being that kid that has all north face gear and a hydration pack for a 3 mile hike. I'm a basics person...I like non name brands and avoid fads (some would say i lack fashion lol).

All the same this prep work is costing me a TON of money that I don't' really have. So far I've bought:

2 Macabi skirts (www.macabiskirt.com) @ $40 (discounted) each -- these are essential for modest Africa clothing that is still practical (and so stink cool!)
1 pair of chacos at $50 give or take (discounted) - i wavered on buying these, but i think quality comfortable sandals are going to be a must. I already own Keens so I'm covered in the toe protection department for more hazardous walking days
2 sports bras at $25 dollars each -- i'm in desperate need of these anyway, my old ones are in sad condition. I got nike drifit which is sorta brandnamey...but i went to get underarmor, and passed for the cheaper nikes...bras need to be quality, it's a fact. you can't skimp on dairy and you can't skimp on underwear...it's too important.
1 pair of Nike capris at $39 i got these on the Sports Authority Outlet site. I HATE capris, but shorts are a no no in Mali, so i'm trying....i'll probably just endure the heat in light pants though.
1 Divacup -- tampons just aren't available in the rest of the world...$4o bucks
Bug Hut, 4 nalgenes, headlamp, frying pan REI for $125 -- just stuff you need in the third world lol. The pan is up for argument...i've heard yes you need one and no you don't...i like to cook though so i'll probably bring it.

That comes out to about $385 so far. And I still have to pick up a few things. Apparently bras are impossible to find (of any quality) so i should bring 8 new ones....oh lord that's gonna be spendy. What else...I need new trail running shoes and running pants (again no shorts allowed). That might be it though. I'm keeping my clothing list small. Jeans, pants i have, cotton tees, tanks, undies...that's it. I hear you can get clothes made REAL cheap in Africa so i'll probably rely on that for the most part.

I guess the thing is you gotta pay for your life for 2 years up front...and i just don't have that spare cash lying around (okay not totally true, i have a couple grand in savings...but it's FOR SAVING).

That's it for now...sorry for the money complaining...i'm going to the like the 6th poorest country in the world and i'm whining about $$$ for a flipping fry pan. I'm lame. I'm going to shut up now and dwell on my lameness.

:) Only 3 more months...scary. (PS still FREAKING out about leaving Thomas, but with great faith I freak out :))

Gypsy on

Finally

2008-03-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7f31888c-f8e5-11dc-bcf3-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1

This makes me very happy. The world community is finally paying attention!

Hope Easter treated you all well.

Gypsy on!

Easter tidbits

2008-03-21T14:17:00.001-07:00

Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox...hence the constant moving of the holiday
This will be the earliest Easter we will see in our life time (barring some huge advance in medicine)
Easter can only possibly be one day earlier than this year's Easter
In second century Europe, the predominate spring festival was a raucous Saxon fertility celebration in honor of the Saxon Goddess Eastre (Ostara), whose sacred animal was a hare.
After discovering that people were more reluctant to give up their holidays and festivals than their gods, early Christian Evangelists simply incorporated Pagan practices into Christian festivals. As recounted by the Venerable Bede, an early Christian writer, clever clerics copied Pagan practices and by doing so, made Christianity more palatable to pagan folk reluctant to give up their festivals for somber Christian practices. (bunnies and eggs make more sense this way then trying to tie them to Jesus lol)
"Many modern practitioners of Neo-pagan and earth-based religions have embraced these symbols [the egg and bunny] as part of their religious practice, identifying with the life-affirming aspects of the spring holiday. (The Neopagan holiday of Ostara is descended from the Saxon festival.) Ironically, some Christian groups have used the presence of these symbols to denounce the celebration of the Easter holiday, and many churches have recently abandoned the Pagan moniker with more Christian oriented titles like 'Resurrection Sunday.'" (this makes me laugh, sounds like Freedom Fries)
Dietitians are warning that eating five Easter eggs (the average given to most children) plus the bars included with them, could see youngsters doubling their recommended calorie intake for a week, risking becoming hooked on chocolate, plus seeing their weight increase by several pounds within days. The recommended daily amounts are around 2,000 calories a day for an average 11-year-old boy and 1,500 for a girl, but many could be eating up to 10,000 calories over the Easter period.
Ninety million chocolate Easter bunnies are produced each year.

Have a happy Easter everyone! Enjoy the pagan chocolate, eggs, and candy and revel in the Christ's Redemption!

Ode to the Irish

2008-03-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

Kiss me, I'm Irish...no really i am. Bailey...self-explanitory. Actually my great great grandpa on my MOM's side (so not even the Bailey side) was an Irish sea captain. He came to the US...and now I'm a salty irish pirate's great great grand-daughter. Yay me.

Inherited Irish Traits:

Green eyes??? i dunno is that Irish? lol
Short lephurcaun stature
I like rain...???
I can hold my alcohol...actually not true anymore. i RARELY drink these days, so i'm a light weight now...sad
i probably have a temper...but i'm not admitting it
i like green

LOL...well i'm irish at heart! You know what I WISH i would have inherited...the amazing voices of Irish singers. For example:

Damien Rice
Damien Rice's chick...whatever her name is that sounds like a flippin siren
Enya
Glen and Irglova or whatever her weird name is

See, i mean, come on. Enya for crying out loud. She's the most amazing singer EVER. Pure tone in her voice, it's really amazing. I'm 99.9% sure that the song that i walk down the aisle to is going to be Aniron from Lord of the Rings. I'm not a Lord of the Rings junkie...never read the books and not HUGE into the movies or anything...but that frickin song is so beautiful. PLUS i hate the "here comes the bride big fat and wide..." song. Everytime i hear that song that's all i think, not really what i want in my head as i go into marriage lol.

Well that's a digression to say the least. So happy st. patrick's day! May the green beer flow with abundance! And don't forget to kiss me!

Right I'm pro

2008-03-13T12:25:00.000-07:00

So i'm on this yahoo group for Peace Corps people. Like people who are applying, people in the field, and people who've returned...well they wanted to find out who had blogs etc. since reading other people's experience is so helpful yada yada yada.

This mostly translates, in my experience, is that we peace corps applicants are freaking nuts. All we do all day is obsess over what country we'll end up in, what our job will be, and what the hell we're supposed to pack with us.

I'm really no help. I had no problems with my medical or placement...i'm pretty much an anomaly.

But speaking of obsessive peace corps behaviors...In the last week I've probably checked and rechecked about a 100 websites on packing lists. I've now got a rough idea of what to bring...but no idea how much it will weigh or if it will even remotely fit in 2 checked bags. What I do know is that clothes will take up the least space lol...pans, knives, head lamps, etc will likely be the bulk.

Can we just talk for a moment about spiders? i hate spiders. HATE. I'm not scared....not really, i just hate them. They're yucky. All those legs and weird eyes and they jump and crawl WAY too damn fast. Africa has big spiders. I know this cause at the zoo every single one of the nastiest spiders is found in Africa. I think i need to pack a bb gun. Then i could shoot them from a distance. That'd be cool. Spiders rank in the top 3 things i'm concerned about in my PEace Corps travels.

Spiders are superceded by learning my new languages French and Bambara. #1 on the list, however, is missing thomas. :( That's gonna suck.

In happy news, Thomas and i are going to Disneyland on Sunday! Yay! And on May 12 we fly first class to DISNEY WORLD! yay. :)

Gypsy on

That's Enough!

2008-03-10T10:25:00.000-07:00

Okay they've gone too far now. They're rounding up cats and killing them in death camps. That's the last straw! China Olympics suck.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=528694&in_page_id=1811

Poor kitties. :(

In other more positive news...

Thomas and I spring cleaned, on our to-do list:
Fix the gate
Sweep the patio of winter leaf debris
"Clean" the dirt of cat poo
Cover said dirt with bark dust
Replace broken toilet seat
Hang 4 guitars to unclutter living room
hang super cool Cost Plus Star lantern
Get rid of crap we don't need
Laundry

It was great. And our backyard looks AMAZING!

Thomas is keeping my condo when I leave, so we wanted to spruce it up for the long haul. Turns out I'm keeping my house even when I"m in Africa. That's good for Sawyer, he'll have a home :) Now we just need to paint the bedroom.

Gypsy On

That Really Grinds My Gears

2008-03-06T08:58:00.000-08:00

Remember that family guy where Peter is on the news with a segment "That Really Grinds My Gears"? Well ya i do. I love family guy. Anyway, here's things that grind my gears. I'm not as bitter as i sound....lol

1. That frickin B of A LOST my deposit of $2160 dollars that i put in THEIR ATM. How do you LOSE a desposit? And how can i just be "outta luck?"

2. Friends who for whatever reason don't have the common courtesy to acknowledge that they are in fact your friend. What is this? Is friendship and love some sort of commodity now that you don't have enough to give out?

3. Friends who just forget you exist cause you broke up with their other friend. What the hell? (that one's been eating at me since college, i still live in LA jerkfaces--yes i did edit that for content)

4. working. lol.

5. ... HRC

okay i think that's it.

gypsy on

Ya this is zen

2008-02-27T11:13:00.000-08:00

okay so round two of hot steamy yoga...and i'm addicted.

I heart yoga. I don't know if the crap about detoxifying my body is true or not, but either way, the streching and sweating and pulling and pushing is awesome. And it sorta does relax my brain...i'm no zen clarity kid yet, but definitely enjoy the "high" of working out hard, especially cause i can't run right now since my ankle is giving me problems.

I'm not letting the ankle get me down though, don't worry! I'm running a half marathon in April and will be back on the training circuit next monday. I have every workout planned out until the race...oh yes i will kick some arse.

In other news....Thomas and I are probably going to Disney World...stoked. actually that's an understatement...i'm coming unglued with excitment.

Anyone else notice how glaringly incorrect my grammar is in this post. I mean run on sentences and awkwardness runs rampant. I'll chalk it up to the excitement. My little hampster is running full bore right now and is giving no thought to grammar or style. Please excuse.

gypsy on.

Is this really zen-like?

2008-02-26T09:16:00.000-08:00

So i started yoga. Andi got my arse kicked by yoga.

bikram yoga. You basically stand in a 101 degree room and contort your body in awkward positions for 90 minutes.

I'm awesome at athletics. I can run and jump and play with the best of them (unless it's volleyball, then i look like the fat kid in gym class). Yoga, however, eludes me. I mean i can run 6:45 miles. I can run half marathons up giant trails, my body fat is 16.5% and dropping, my lean body mass is 110 lbs, but hot sweat rooms where i gotta put my leg above my head kills me.

But i will not be bested. I've signed up for a month of unlimited classes (at a cool $100) and i'm dedicated to going at least 3 times a week. I'm hoping I can get it down so i can maybe sorta do yoga while in africa....we'll see.

Thomas used to teach yoga, but he doesn't like bikram. It's too hot he says. And he likes the relaxing yoga where you do guided imagery. This yoga is not relaxing at all. WEll maybe it is cause you're so damn tired at the end you can't help but relax... This yoga is brutal...i actually got in trouble for trying to get a quick drink when it wasn't a designated water period. I didn't even know there were designated times.

I'm such a noob.

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T11:31:00.000-08:00

happy valentine's day everyone!

Hope it's full of love :)

gypsy on

Down with the Olympics!!

2008-02-12T16:00:00.000-08:00

"Steven Spielberg has decided not to participate in the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing as an artistic adviser, citing the lack of progress in ending the genocide in Darfur." That's the news on Variety's website today (http://www.variety.com/VR1117980808.html).

Speilberg said: "I have made repeated efforts to encourage the Chinese government to use its unique influence to bring safety and stability to the Darfur region of Sudan," Spielberg wrote. "Although some progress has been made ...the situation continues to worsen and the violence continues to accelerate."
"With this in mind, I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue with business as usual," he added. "At this point, my time and energy must be spent not on Olympic ceremonies, but on doing all I can to help bring an end to the unspeakable crimes against humanity that will continue to be committed in Darfur."

Bout frickin time. I too, Mr. Spielberg, am boycotting these olympics.

China is saying that we shouldn't "politicize the olympics." BS. The olympics have always been political (Berlin anyone????) . Anyway, China needs to clean up it's human rights, it's foreign policy and its air quality. I wouldn't want to be competing outside in Beijing!

Hooray for Steven, now maybe this issue will get some press. For those that don't know, "China is Sudan's largest trading partner and the main foreign investor in Sudan's oil industry. Although most Western oil companies have withdrawn from Sudan under pressure from human rights organizations, Chinese companies have turned a blind eye to the brutal way in which Sudan forced 200,000 to 300,000 of its citizens from oil-rich lands without compensation. Nor have these companies shown concern that Sudan uses oil revenue to purchase arms for its wars against its black African population."

Source: http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2004/0805africa_cohen.aspx

In addition, check out this website http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=174 which talks about how Chinese oppression in media/internet. "Around 30 journalists and 50 Internet users are currently detained in China. Some of them since the 1980s."

And finally, China backs the military junta in Burma. They protect the regime from the UN and, although they do great things in Burma...build roads etc., they allow the military regime to run amok oppressing basic rights and killing monks. Okay that last part is simplifying a very complex issue, but it's pretty ugly all the same.

Thomas thinks i'm being unfair to the athletes...maybe i am, but i'm not watching. And the athletes would be real champions/heroes if they refused to play.

oh my sweet lord

2008-02-11T10:18:00.000-08:00

there is, in the land of disney, in the kitchen of goofy, a dish which is served that is known as Peanut Butter and Jelly pizza. I shall never be the same.

Disneyland is a great place to celebrate valentines day in case you ever wondered.

I love thomas.

Falling off the wagon

2008-02-06T11:42:00.000-08:00

So i haven't had ANY peanut butter since september. I know. Amazing isn't it? I quit the stuff cause every time I bought it i'd eat the whole jar in like a week. I couldn't help myself.

However, against Thomas' warnings, I bought peanut butter yesterday at Trader Joes (i only eat trader joe's pb now...none of that silly processed stuff). I stirred the jar yesterady night and only had a finger taste...i did ok. But in about 2 hours i'm gonna have a pbj sandwich for lunch...let's hope i don't fall of the wagon and just start eating it outta the jar again.

Damn you peanutbutter. Damn you and your tasty goodness.

...counting down the minutes til lunch.....

PS when i move to Mali you can send me peanut butter. All the peanut butter you want. Apparently protein is a scarcity around there, so i'll actually be able to eat it guilt free...what with the fact i'll be eating rice and that's about it for 2 years. LOL!