I am so incredibly steamed right now. After making me go in to see the gas company customer service people in person (which they then told me was completely unnecessary), we scheduled the installation of my gas meter for this morning between 7 and 12. After hauling myself out of bed to get dressed after [...]

I was talking to the Boy tonight and giggling gleefully about all the craaaaazy new contraptions I’ve discovered upon living, really living, in the US for the first time in two and a half years. And now, I understand why people think this is the land of milk and honey: we have everything! And it’s [...]

Oh, er, right. I’m not in South Africa or the Peace Corps anymore. I moved to DC two days ago and am starting a new job very soon. I also couldn’t feel happier about my decision to leave. And, yes, I’m changing the name of the blog again.

There may be readers out there who, like me, care very much what their Presidential candidates are saying on the International Criminal Court. My friend from Chicago and I wrote to Obama a very long time ago asking about his position, but we never heard back (and were a bit peeved about it, considering that [...]

1) People being rude. Two days ago, a group of primary school kids yelled at me, in English: “Your vagina is beautiful!” While that’s hysterical, it’s also just tiring. 2) Screaming. The adults that I’ve lived with scream at their kids all the time in tones that I only associate with something being really, really wrong, [...]

Alright, Peace Corps came to visit, we talked and they’ve released me from working at the municipality. I am absolutely over the moon about this. Even better (as if it could get much better), I’ve been given permission to go looking for my own new site. I told my APCD (program director person) about a [...]

First, um, and I feel really tacky doing this, but I thought I might make some Christmas/Solstace/Winter Festive Season suggestions for, er, presents. Because, I’d really, really like some kind of specific things to share with my host family. Primarily, I’d like: children’s picture books and magazines or books with lots and lots of photos. I [...]

Anyone who’s ever been or known a Peace Corps volunteer (and gotten an honest assessment out of them) or who has a decent sense of imagination, probably knows or has heard that life as a volunteer can involve a LOT of ups and downs. You might not hear about the downs, especially in a public [...]

Um, this is a little weird, but just about ever since my day of horrific food poisoning two weeks ago, I’ve been reluctant to eat. Thinking about food makes my stomach go queasy, as does thinking about the actual taste. And I’m not really hungry, which is in HUGE contrast to training, when I could [...]

Yesterday was a very good day. Last week I spent most of one day in a pre-workshop for the Limpopo Senior Citizen’s Parliament and, knowing that my supervisor was scheduled to be away at a workshop, I asked if I could go along. The big day was yesterday. I was “supposed” to get picked up at [...]