So, as I’ve mentioned, I can’t get on my blog from the public library in the nearest town to us, Ponteland, so once in a rare while I lug my laptop all the way to Newcastle, pay five pounds for an hour of internet time, and inform ya’ll out there what I’m up to. If anyone feels like I am a selfless, caring individual to spend this much time fulfilling your deepest desires to know what I’m doing, feel free to send those five pounds back to me at the address noted below J. I find it amusingly ironic that now that I’m back in “civilization” I’m getting online less than when I was in Africa.
Anywayyyy… I think I may have mentioned last time I wrote that my boss isn’t the ideal specimen of a kind, caring, patient individual. I guess that I get what I signed up for, using him so that I can get a job and accommodation and food for 2 months, and he using me so that he can get some cheap labor that won’t complain too much because they know they won’t find another job like it in the area (for such a short period of time). I won’t continue to go on about this because I have far too much else to talk about (right), but I’m counting down the days until I leave already!
When the pub is busy it’s really a blast. The locals enjoy picking on me, we have live entertainment about 2x a week (jazz on Wednesdays and then something else on fri/sat), and the kids I work with continue to be really enjoyable! I’m doing pretty well saving money, though I don’t really know how much I’m up to right now, but assume that it will be enough… if not, I have a bit saved anyway that I can spend if necessary. Traveling around Europe gets closer and closer, and I’m so excited to see Meg (Marge, to some of you, including me), because she’s coming on the 24th of July and joining me for some of the travels! I continue to speak a bit of Swahili to two of the people here at work who are from Kenya, which is great because I haven’t forgotten all of it as of yet so I may be able to continue once I get back to the states if I can find someone from East Africa. And I’m not drinking too much, which is surprising as it’s the only thing to do if you aren’t working in the evening, but I guess in that regard the Aussie boy who works here has been great because his parents live in China and send him ripped-off DVDs of all the latest TV series’ seasons (House, CSI, Scrubs, Smallville), so I’ve been watching a lot of TV.
In terms of adjustments since leaving Tanzania… it really is interesting the things that stick with you and the things you adjust to without really thinking about it. I handwashed all of my laundry yesterday because it needed to get done and the machine was busy, which I certainly never would have done if I hadn’t done it for 4 months in Africa. I really notice how my boss treats the Kenyan that works for us, which I don’t think I would have payed any more attention to than anyone else before. I talk to the other Kenyan woman and feel like I understand more of where she’s coming from, and some of her views really remind me of what people thought in Tanzania. Currently I’m sitting in a Starbucks and reflecting on the huge amount of people/buildings and media/retail and individuality/conformity and wealth/poverty and parks/streets and all the other things that seem to clash so much yet fit together to make this western city, where everyone is in a rush to go places and do things and see people and make a mark on the world and make money and have a family and… life in Tanzania was much slower, more calm, though it was in many cases harder work and longer days than people work here…life went on, it didn’t nearly collapse if you couldn’t get your latte in the morning or if the roads flooded or if you suddenly got a lunch rush of 20 unexpected visitors who all wanted coffee (oh, the horrors). You could go somewhere or visit someone without planning for days in advance…if you missed the first dala-dala back you didn’t need to wait for 4 hours for the next one… I think I liked the pace of life better there than here.
But anyway, enough for now. I’m going to see the castles in the area on Saturday with one of the locals, which I’m excited about! We have a huge music festival here next weekend, which basically means hell because the boss is going to freak out all weekend, but c’est la vie. And then one week and I’m gone… and then back at Bucknell for a year and then who knows. I’m currently thinking about taking a year and just studying martial arts after school… or traveling… or a million other things. I’m open to suggestions as well J. Bye byes for now!
