Monday, January 28, 2008

Hmm... should I watch the state of the union? no. Not a chance. I know it will only make me furious. I just can't imagine that anything George W. Bush says tonight will do anything to vindicate anything he's done for me, or give me any confidence that his last year will be an improvement over the last 7. I think I'll watch Kill Bill 2 instead and then watch the Daily Show tomorrow so that I get a witty and satiric recap of the important stuff I missed.

I've been thinking about the things I'll miss when I'm gone. Things besides the obvious family/friends stuff. Of course I'll miss my parents and such. I'm talking more about happenings. Really, all the events I'm sad I'll miss right now boil down to two categories:

Weddings: I'm at that age where a lot of my friends are getting engaged and married. I already am aware of a couple of weddings I'll miss, including one I just found out about today concerning my good friends Stew and Jenna (congrats guys!). I enjoy weddings. You get to see a lot of people you don't see very often. The mood is always happy (if it's not, the wedding probably is a really, really bad idea), and then you gorge yourself on catered food. Except the dancing. I don't do that. The point is I'm sad I'll miss these.

Concerts: Those who know me pretty well know that there's not much I enjoy more than live music. You wait on Ticketmaster hitting refresh for like 10 minutes and then the tickets go on sale and you click like you've never clicked a mouse before cause you want the best seats and then you get them and you're all excited and you wait four months and all you and your friends can talk about is how excited you are for that show and then the day comes and you drive there and you don't listen to the band you're seeing cause that's bad luck and then you get to the venue and you wait in line and you all crowd into this tiny space and the opening band plays and they were pretty good but not great and then you wait for like 45 minutes more and then the lights go out and everyone goes nuts and the next two hours are awesome and the band sounds really good and I hope they play this song holy crap I never thought I'd hear that what will the encore be no way they haven't played that song in years wow that show was amazing I can't wait for the next one.
Seriously, concerts are awesome. While I look forward to being exposed to new kinds of music while I'm in Africa, there are two particularly awesome tours about to happen this summer that I will miss. The first being Radiohead, the top band on my list of bands to see that I haven't seen yet. The second being R.E.M., my second or third favorite band playing with The National, my fourth favorite band and Modest Mouse, a favorite, though unnumbered. While I have seen all those bands separately, that's like the best triple bill ever. And of course, the upcoming new U2 album this year will mean a monster world tour next year that I'll miss, unless they hit Cape Town or something like that. Luckily I saw them thrice on the Vertigo Tour.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

I should be asleep right now because I have to be up at 4:30 tomorrow for work. But I can't. I think there's too many things running through my mind right now, like:
-Only one week of work left. Thank God.
-NPR's All Songs Considered Live Concert series is the best thing on radio, ever. Specifically the Jose Gonzalez set I just finished and the New Pornographers set I'm enjoying right now.
-I have to go see There Will Be Blood as soon as possible, most likely Monday.
-The Simpsons Movie was still great the second time.
-Can't wait for Seattle, seeing friends, meeting PCV's and eating Ethiopian food, U23D, and whatever else happens.
-"All My Friends" by LCD Soundsystem may be a perfect song. There aren't many of those.
-oh and that Africa stuff. I still have a lot of stuff to do.
Obviously these are all very important things more important than working 12 hours tomorrow on more than 4 hours of sleep.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Is it wrong that my first thought when I heard that Heath Ledger died was how that would affect the release of The Dark Knight? Sad story. A two year old daughter now without a father. A guy who by our standards had everything, but if the circumstances are any indication of why he died, it sure looks like his success couldn't give him happiness.
I got my staging kit yesterday. My parents were all giddy and all excited for me to open it. On Feb. 20th I fly out of Springfield at 6 am, into Chicago, then leave Chicago at 8 and get to D.C. at 11. I stay in D.C. for a couple of days of intense orientation and getting to know my fellow PCV's, then on Friday I board a plane for a 15 hour flight to Johannesburg, then fly from there to Lusaka. I'm excited that my passport will have a South Africa stamp, though hopefully I'll see more of South Africa than the Jo'burg airport over the next couple of years.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

I was all excited for what would have undoubtedly been the biggest Super Bowl matchup ever, Patriots vs. Packers, Brady vs. Favre, the perfect team versus the most lovable comeback quarterback of them all. There would have been so many great story lines in that game, it would have been the highest rated sporting event of all time, it would have been awesome.
But no.
Stupid Eli Manning. The Giants are, to me anyway, one of the most unlikeable teams in the NFL. This is probably because they are a New York team and everyone outside of New York gets tired of hearing about them all season long whether or not they're doing anything newsworthy, just like the Yankees, Knicks, Duke basketball (not from New York, I know, but I still hate them)etc. I've disliked Eli Manning ever since he decided he was too good to play for San Diego if they drafted him. He's not. And actually that ended up benefitting the Chargers more than anyone else. And now, on top of everything else, they ruin the best Super Bowl game ever, or at least since Pats-Rams in '02. I hope the Pats score 100 points and that Tedi Bruschi eats Eli Manning's left arm.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

ForecastFox says it's currently 12 degrees in Jacksonville, which means we're probably not going to hit the forecasted high, a scorching 19. Days like these make me really glad I'm going to Zambia and not, say, Eastern Europe.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

I feel slightly bi-polar as of late. It changes almost daily. I'll have days where all I can think about is how excited I am to go to Zambia and live in a hut and meet new people and work with Africans and I'm in a good mood all day. Today wasn't one of those days. Maybe it was just cause I didn't sleep much last night and had to work 12 hours today and I hate my job (Jan 31st...), but all I could think about today was how hard training is going to be and we have to learn a new language and I studied Econ in college why am I working in Health development and what if the other trainees don't like me and I'm gonna miss the new U2 and REM albums and Radiohead is touring I've never seen them and I don't like spiders what if I see big spiders there and will I pack the right stuff oh crap I haven't started packing yet everyone else is packed and I haven't even started shopping what am I doing I should get a new iPod before I go no that's stupid thats a lot of money to spend on something you don't need and on and on and on...
Deep Breath...
This whole thing is starting to get very real. We leave 5 weeks from today. I am terrified, totally unprepared as of now, but I'm still excited. Hopefully I'll wake up tomorrow with a better night's sleep, read this and realize this was mostly just crazy talk. The next post will be after a full night's sleep.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

I watched L'Auberge Espagnole for the first time last night. I don't think I've watched a movie so chillingly applicable to my current life since Kicking and Screaming (not the Will Ferrell soccer movie, the Noah Baumbach movie from the mid 90's. it's like Reality Bites, except it doesn't suck). I mean, I don't want to be that girl who's really drunk at the party and thinks that every song that comes on is about her, but come on, the main guy is even an econ major. It's a great flick about being in your twenties and not really knowing what you want to do with your life, the experiences you have along the way and the people you meet and how they come to be a part of who you are. I thought about my semester in Australia, people I met in a hostel and talked to for a couple of hours and will never see again, the people I lived with there, and the two years of new people and new places and new things coming up that will become a part of me. I felt all sappy and sentimental and I really enjoyed it.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

I just watched Apocalypse Now for the first time. What a great movie. I've tried to read Heart of Darkness twice in the past, both times for school, and I didn't finish it either time cause I thought it sucked. But after watching this movie I wanna try it again, and this time I may actually get it. There's just something about the dark and depraved themes of this story that didn't come across to me while I was reading the book, but when seeing Col. Kurtz in the movie it was like being hit by a sack of bricks. Plus I figure if I'm going to Africa for two years I should read what's generally considered the landmark English-Language book about my future home.

I'm getting really excited for Seattle. On Sat. night while I'm there I'm meeting up with three other people I'm going to Africa with, and we're going to an Ethiopian restaurant. Should be fun.

I caught this pod on Current TV today. It's about a soldier who was one of the first to go into Iraq, and for the last few years he's been battling Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It's a pretty chilling reminder that, no how matter you feel about the war, it can't be denied that war is an awful thing that has the power to destroy countless people, no matter what side they are fighting on. It's a scary thought that this guy who is 25 already has this baggage that he'll carry around for the rest of his life. I think what scares me most about this is the idea that maybe this is all happening in an unjust war fought under false pretenses. Please understand I don't mean to cheapen in any way what the troops are doing and going through. I've never fought in battle and I certainly don't pretend to understand what it's like, but wouldn't it be awful if all of this was happening because our government lied to us? For a president that talks an awful lot about supporting the troops, sending them off to fight an unjust war based on lies sure doesn't sound like support.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

My brother left to go back to school yesterday, which probably was the last time I'll see him before I leave. Our highly emotional goodbye went something like this:
"Ok I'm going to bed."
"Cool. See you at my college graduation."
"OK don't get married before I come home."
"OK"

Only 13 work days and 23 actual days until my last day of work. Not that I'm counting or anything. Most of the people at work who know me know what my plans are by now, which makes for some awkward conversation. Reminds me of when I was going to Australia, the several conversations that went something like this:
"So, Tanzania, huh? Gonna go to Africa, climb Kilimanjaro?"
(Swing! and a miss)
"Actually it's Tasmania, the island south of Australia."
"Oh"
(Uncomfortable pause)
At that point they'd say something about Tasmanian Devils or how toilets spin the other way down there when you flush them, and I'd change the subject. Some people I work with are actually interested and have asked some good questions. One lady I worked with mentioned that she had seen on the news what's going on in Kenya. It would be nice to know that me going to Africa made someone a little more conscious of what's going on in the world, outside of Illinois and America.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

There was an article in the Chicago Tribune yesterday about a current PCV in Kenya who came home for the holidays and is heading back to Nairobi in the middle of the riots that have been going on as a result of the recent election. Scary stuff. At the time of the article she said the PC hadn't told her not to come back, but it's hard to imagine that if the riots continue they'll allow her to go back, and I have to believe that any PCV's who were supposed to go to Kenya over the next couple months will be delayed. Makes me glad that's not where I'm headed. I suppose it comes with being part of the western world, but I'm continually baffled by stories like this, and by how often they happen. No American goes to bed at night wondering if , when they wake up tomorrow, there will be a totally different government in place, or if after an election the losing party will go on a killing spree. Here's a good article on the situation, link courtesy of my new favorite website, current.com. I discovered it this week as a result of Current TV's Radiohead "In Rainbows" broadcast. Up until last week I was not aware we even had such a channel. Gotta love Dish Network.
On a lighter note, New Year's Day football had its good and bad. Michigan won their bowl game for the first time in five years, sending Lloyd Carr out with a win. It would have been nice if they'd have played like that against Appalachian St. though. Anyway the new coach starts today, which means they'll probably win at least one national championship while I'm in Africa. As to my beloved alma mater, well, they had a good run. It just came to an abrupt end against USC. They were boys playing men. But the future of Illinois football looks bright for the first time in a while. Now if only Ohio State can lost the Nat'l Championship game...