When I was a kid, I would look forward to and prepare for vacations to an extreme degree. I would make a paper chain (where you tear off one loop every day and watch the chain dwindle with mounting excitement) sometimes hundreds of days in advance. I would make a detailed list of every individual item I was going to bring with me, then make a separate list to show which things were ready to be packed, then a list for which things were already packed, and then at the end I would cross-check the three lists, finally making one final list of everything I knew was going with me so that I could make sure that everything came back home. I would write out a to-do list for every day during the pre-vacation week so I made sure that nothing would be bungled last-minute (I was really into lists...). I would make sure that my room was completely spotless and everything was in order before I left, so I could come back to a distinct lack of chaos. On departure day itself, I would be up by 5am (even if the plane didn't leave till 4pm, like on England trips) so I could be ready and showered, allowing time to deal with unanticipated emergengcies. I was always an advocate of getting to the airport 4+ hours early. Why the hell wouldn't you?
In college and in my youngun SF life, I relaxed a bit. Last year, the night before an England trip, I began giving thought to what to bring with me at around 2:45am, and realizing that nothing I owned was even remotely clean, I trekked back and forth to the (mercifully existent) 24-hour laundromat on 20th and SVN (sketch!) a couple times, after which I watched the entirety of She's Having a Baby before actually packing anything.
Here in Rwanda, it seems that I've entered my second childhood. My southern Africa trip has been anticipated with a 100-day-long paper chain. I made an itemized to-bring list about three weeks ago and spent a good amount of time honing it carefully until a final list emerged triumphant last weekend. I had a to-do list every day this week. Yesterday, I couldn't help it - I completely packed my bag, fully 48 hours in advance of departure for a four-hour flight. I am now spending my final day here making my house completely spotless, so I'll be returning at the end of this month to something approximating a museum exhibit of my Rwanda life.
It's been kind of fun to relive my anal-retentive childhood days in the lead-up to this trip, but I think that's mainly because I had little else to do these two weeks. I'm going to look at this as the death throes of my insane need for organization. Next vacation, I'm looking forward to chucking a random selection of rumpled clothes into the nearest available backpack five minutes before liftoff and heading, carefree, out the door.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
We Used to Vacation
With Term Two officially and totally wrapped up and all my exams marked and my marks handed in ON TIME, I am now on vacation. Three days in, and let me tell you, it is a rager.
I've got two weeks before I leave for South Africa (actually only 10 days now!), and since my funds have effectively dwindled down to zero I decided to hang around in Shyorongi for this stretch, enjoying the quiet life. I figured that since one of the most delightful feelings on the planet is taking a day off work in the middle of the week, I would probably enjoy what was akin to taking ten days off work in the middle of the week.
I anticipated being pretty bored, so I'm happy to report that I really haven't been at all. Aside from all of my usual delicious diversions/time wasters (Archers, movies, long walks to nowhere, books, yoga, excessive tea) I've been listening to and taking notes on a couple of Cal classes, partly to keep my hand in (two years since university!) and partly to keep my general knowledge on the up (seven months of talking about nothing in rudimentary English and I am slightly concerned). One of them has been pretty cool, and the other has been fantastic:
HIST-7B (American History From the Civil War To the Present): This one is just pretty cool. It's a pretty standard take on modern American history, which I generally like learning about and which the professor seems to generally like speaking about. Definitely just a refresher of stuff I've been taught multiple times before though (we're barely out of the Civil War yet, so maybe my mind just has yet to be blown) and I really wish that I have access to the readings for the course to flesh it out a little. Hah! I never thought I'd pine for course readings.
ESPM-114 (Wildlife Ecology): Awesome! Here's a topic that I know virtually nothing about, but it's infinitely understandable and enjoyable if you've ever spent more than five minutes at a stretch outside. The prof is starting small, looking at individual animals and what factors define their niche, how they select their habitats, etc., and then will eventually move on to whole populations and how they interact with each other. Listening to this course has already made my long Shyorongi walks way more interesting, because now every time I see a lizard I can't help but think of how it might be thermoregulating, right this second. One lecture yesterday was going over the basics of how individual animals are inclined towards specific habitats (via genetic encoding, imprinting, and learning), and I was struck by how completely this applied to me, as an animal, in my search for a habitat. More narcissistic thoughts on this in a future post.
Other bits of media I've been taking in on vacation so far:
Requiem for a Dream: This is a movie that I wish I could erase from my consciousness, but I can't and now it's in there forever. Normally, I am more than game for disturbing drug-related movies, but the fact that this one was so wholly depressing, that it offered no light at the end of the tunnel but just continued to sink lower and lower until it eventually just gave up and died, made me want to go back in time and convince myself to give it a miss. Lots of my friends here have compared it to Trainspotting (one of my favorite movies), but I don't think they could have more opposite messages. If you like the idea of living with, and even enjoying, imperfection, watch Trainspotting. If you just want to cry/die, watch Requiem for a Dream.
The Pianist: Again, not an upper, but definitely a solid WWII movie with amazing music and an ending that's stuck in my mind and maybe even changed my actions a tiny bit over the last couple days. Also, a perspective that I've never really seen before, which seems rare nowadays for WWII.
Anna Karenina: Wonderful in every respect. Reading this book feels like sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner: every bite is a delight and you know it's not going to be over any time soon. Why does anyone ever fear Russian authors? I'm sure there are all sorts of metaphors and social commentaries and blah blah blah that I'm missing, but who cares? This is just an awesome story that's easy to read and keeps you thinking without weighing your mind down. I'm only just over a quarter of the way through, so I can't compare it to my beloved Brothers Karamazov yet, but if AK keeps on like this, it might well surpass.
Desert Island Discs with Kirsty Young: In spite of the fact that I often want to throttle the humble smuggery right out of Kirsty Young, this is a really great show that's been both introducing me to some entertaining people I'd never heard of before and giving me a nice new perspective on some that I had (the Ricky Gervais episode is glorious). It's also led me to form and constantly revise my own list of eight desert island discs in my head, just in case I become spontaneously famous and am forced onto the show with little warning. I'm ready for you, Young!
...well alright, since you asked, here is said list, in its incompletion, as it stands now:
When I Live My Dream ... David Bowie
I've Got a Thing About Seeing My Grandson Grow Old ... Cat Stevens
Musetta's Theme ... Puccini (La Boheme)
Strangers ... The Kinks
La Vie en Rose ... Louis Armstrong
Cello Suite 1 ... Bach
Greetings to the New Brunette ... Billy Bragg
American Tune ... Paul Simon
Still, tomorrow's gonna be another working day, and I'm trying to get some rest.
That's all, I'm trying to get some rest.
I've got two weeks before I leave for South Africa (actually only 10 days now!), and since my funds have effectively dwindled down to zero I decided to hang around in Shyorongi for this stretch, enjoying the quiet life. I figured that since one of the most delightful feelings on the planet is taking a day off work in the middle of the week, I would probably enjoy what was akin to taking ten days off work in the middle of the week.
I anticipated being pretty bored, so I'm happy to report that I really haven't been at all. Aside from all of my usual delicious diversions/time wasters (Archers, movies, long walks to nowhere, books, yoga, excessive tea) I've been listening to and taking notes on a couple of Cal classes, partly to keep my hand in (two years since university!) and partly to keep my general knowledge on the up (seven months of talking about nothing in rudimentary English and I am slightly concerned). One of them has been pretty cool, and the other has been fantastic:
HIST-7B (American History From the Civil War To the Present): This one is just pretty cool. It's a pretty standard take on modern American history, which I generally like learning about and which the professor seems to generally like speaking about. Definitely just a refresher of stuff I've been taught multiple times before though (we're barely out of the Civil War yet, so maybe my mind just has yet to be blown) and I really wish that I have access to the readings for the course to flesh it out a little. Hah! I never thought I'd pine for course readings.
ESPM-114 (Wildlife Ecology): Awesome! Here's a topic that I know virtually nothing about, but it's infinitely understandable and enjoyable if you've ever spent more than five minutes at a stretch outside. The prof is starting small, looking at individual animals and what factors define their niche, how they select their habitats, etc., and then will eventually move on to whole populations and how they interact with each other. Listening to this course has already made my long Shyorongi walks way more interesting, because now every time I see a lizard I can't help but think of how it might be thermoregulating, right this second. One lecture yesterday was going over the basics of how individual animals are inclined towards specific habitats (via genetic encoding, imprinting, and learning), and I was struck by how completely this applied to me, as an animal, in my search for a habitat. More narcissistic thoughts on this in a future post.
Other bits of media I've been taking in on vacation so far:
Requiem for a Dream: This is a movie that I wish I could erase from my consciousness, but I can't and now it's in there forever. Normally, I am more than game for disturbing drug-related movies, but the fact that this one was so wholly depressing, that it offered no light at the end of the tunnel but just continued to sink lower and lower until it eventually just gave up and died, made me want to go back in time and convince myself to give it a miss. Lots of my friends here have compared it to Trainspotting (one of my favorite movies), but I don't think they could have more opposite messages. If you like the idea of living with, and even enjoying, imperfection, watch Trainspotting. If you just want to cry/die, watch Requiem for a Dream.
The Pianist: Again, not an upper, but definitely a solid WWII movie with amazing music and an ending that's stuck in my mind and maybe even changed my actions a tiny bit over the last couple days. Also, a perspective that I've never really seen before, which seems rare nowadays for WWII.
Anna Karenina: Wonderful in every respect. Reading this book feels like sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner: every bite is a delight and you know it's not going to be over any time soon. Why does anyone ever fear Russian authors? I'm sure there are all sorts of metaphors and social commentaries and blah blah blah that I'm missing, but who cares? This is just an awesome story that's easy to read and keeps you thinking without weighing your mind down. I'm only just over a quarter of the way through, so I can't compare it to my beloved Brothers Karamazov yet, but if AK keeps on like this, it might well surpass.
Desert Island Discs with Kirsty Young: In spite of the fact that I often want to throttle the humble smuggery right out of Kirsty Young, this is a really great show that's been both introducing me to some entertaining people I'd never heard of before and giving me a nice new perspective on some that I had (the Ricky Gervais episode is glorious). It's also led me to form and constantly revise my own list of eight desert island discs in my head, just in case I become spontaneously famous and am forced onto the show with little warning. I'm ready for you, Young!
...well alright, since you asked, here is said list, in its incompletion, as it stands now:
When I Live My Dream ... David Bowie
I've Got a Thing About Seeing My Grandson Grow Old ... Cat Stevens
Musetta's Theme ... Puccini (La Boheme)
Strangers ... The Kinks
La Vie en Rose ... Louis Armstrong
Cello Suite 1 ... Bach
Greetings to the New Brunette ... Billy Bragg
American Tune ... Paul Simon
Still, tomorrow's gonna be another working day, and I'm trying to get some rest.
That's all, I'm trying to get some rest.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
La Vie en Rose
Today, Shyorongi has an amazing summer feeling. There are no real seasons here except Rainy and Dry, but right now, with the perfect temperature and a perfect breeze, and possibly my internal clock waking up and remembering that it's July, it certainly feels like summer. I distinctly remember years ago, pulling away from a traffic light as I turned from Gregory Road to Pleasant Hill Road in Iago the blue Honda Civic who is no more, driving slowly with the window down and feeling the first really warm sun of summer, listening to Breathless Over You by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, feeling light and free and surrounded by just the right amount of attention and inattention from the great cast of characters that was my family and friends, all cloaked up in the pure unnecessary refreshing happiness that only summer brings. I've thankfully felt that way on many occasions since, and I feel that way now.
I'm more than half way through my year in Rwanda, and I find myself feeling good about
students who poke their head around the door while I'm in the staff room just to say hi teacherrrrr, and then give me giant grins when I say hi back.
my Dean of Studies, Regis, who I wasn't too keen on at the beginning of the year but has since proven himself to be a super pleasant, hard-working, accommodating guy who puts all the other DOSs to shame.
gorgeous Shyorongi with its endless miles of red dirt trails and green surrounds.
my parents, who listen to my gripes and ask about my day and have interesting days of their own to tell me about and who are charging into Africa in November with excitement and vigor.
the very existence of mangoes, let alone their recent arrival in my village!
my Rwanda buddies, who don't ask if I want to visit so much as receive a phone call informing them that I am on the way and proceed to put a curry on for dinner.
Tommy the dog, who is taking one for the team by enduring his extreme depression due to separation from his BFF Michy in order to give the entire of E.S. Stella Matutina a decent night's sleep.
my closest friends from home, who keep in just the right amount of contact - enough to keep me in the loop and remind me of how much fun they are, but not so much that I don't miss them something awful and look forward to being around them FT soon.
my brothers, who must be awesome if I miss them this much, who show me up to be the least adventurous member of the family, and who I can't wait to see sometime in the next 1-10 years.
the glow-in-the-dark Jesus-on-the-crosses (fact!) that exist in every room at this school, and the fact that I am the only one here who would ever think to find them funny.
my boyfriend, who against all odds manages to make me like him more every day, and who spends his days roaming the wilderness in defense of rare plants, and who will be hopping on a plane in less than one month now :D
St. Paul's, the mission that gives us good cheap food and an overwhelming sense of comfort as our first Rwanda home.
Stella's language department, which holds its meetings in English just for me.
the Archers, which I am obsessed with, and am off to catch up with right now.
Term Two is over, just exams left now! It looks like I'll be flying to South Africa, rather than overlanding, so I'll be leaving at the end of this month (!!!) after a week and a bit spent relaxing in lovely Northern Rwanda with Meghan et al. Term Three is a short one, and then The November of Mum and Dad In Africa happens, and then it's homity home home home. In this lovely summer glow, I can't help feeling like the rough part, the adjustment and the heartache and the frustration and the boredom and the why-am-I-here-ness, is more or less wrapped up. These last four months feel like the final upswing of the W-curve, where I soak up the country I'm finally feeling comfortable in and enjoy it till the finish.
Off I go home, knocking on every wooden surface I see on the way.
I'm more than half way through my year in Rwanda, and I find myself feeling good about
students who poke their head around the door while I'm in the staff room just to say hi teacherrrrr, and then give me giant grins when I say hi back.
my Dean of Studies, Regis, who I wasn't too keen on at the beginning of the year but has since proven himself to be a super pleasant, hard-working, accommodating guy who puts all the other DOSs to shame.
gorgeous Shyorongi with its endless miles of red dirt trails and green surrounds.
my parents, who listen to my gripes and ask about my day and have interesting days of their own to tell me about and who are charging into Africa in November with excitement and vigor.
the very existence of mangoes, let alone their recent arrival in my village!
my Rwanda buddies, who don't ask if I want to visit so much as receive a phone call informing them that I am on the way and proceed to put a curry on for dinner.
Tommy the dog, who is taking one for the team by enduring his extreme depression due to separation from his BFF Michy in order to give the entire of E.S. Stella Matutina a decent night's sleep.
my closest friends from home, who keep in just the right amount of contact - enough to keep me in the loop and remind me of how much fun they are, but not so much that I don't miss them something awful and look forward to being around them FT soon.
my brothers, who must be awesome if I miss them this much, who show me up to be the least adventurous member of the family, and who I can't wait to see sometime in the next 1-10 years.
the glow-in-the-dark Jesus-on-the-crosses (fact!) that exist in every room at this school, and the fact that I am the only one here who would ever think to find them funny.
my boyfriend, who against all odds manages to make me like him more every day, and who spends his days roaming the wilderness in defense of rare plants, and who will be hopping on a plane in less than one month now :D
St. Paul's, the mission that gives us good cheap food and an overwhelming sense of comfort as our first Rwanda home.
Stella's language department, which holds its meetings in English just for me.
the Archers, which I am obsessed with, and am off to catch up with right now.
Term Two is over, just exams left now! It looks like I'll be flying to South Africa, rather than overlanding, so I'll be leaving at the end of this month (!!!) after a week and a bit spent relaxing in lovely Northern Rwanda with Meghan et al. Term Three is a short one, and then The November of Mum and Dad In Africa happens, and then it's homity home home home. In this lovely summer glow, I can't help feeling like the rough part, the adjustment and the heartache and the frustration and the boredom and the why-am-I-here-ness, is more or less wrapped up. These last four months feel like the final upswing of the W-curve, where I soak up the country I'm finally feeling comfortable in and enjoy it till the finish.
Off I go home, knocking on every wooden surface I see on the way.
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