I head back to Ethiopia on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to it :) I should probably start getting things together and packing and such ( Read more... )

...and post them on the internet ( Read more... )

Well, I must say that I do not envy any of my American friends their continual political news updates when the Olympics end and there's nothing better to talk about before the Nov. election. I will cheerfully be experiencing a news blackout (more or less) after the end of this month ( Read more... )

...the pleasant side of mental whiplash ( Read more... )

So…overstaying a visa is a Bad Idea, and it turns out that mine can’t be renewed after all. I have to come back to the US to get that taken care of, so that involved a last minute decision to spend the summer in the US and return to Ethiopia before the beginning of the next school year ( Read more... )

School is over! Exams were last week, and mine was the last one given (on Thursday). This past weekend was the Spelling Bee (so, I’m quite possibly on national TV as Marnie and I were the only two white people in the audience). Monday I gave the exams back to the students, Tuesday was the senior class trip, and Wednesday my fourth quarter grades ( Read more... )

I’ve never read a book by Anne Rice before. I know my brother-in-law likes her a good deal (or did, when he was younger), and I know she doesn’t appreciate people writing fanfic for her stories. But…I’ve never read anything by her, and I haven’t seen Interview with the Vampire, either - despite my high school friends being involved in LARPs ( Read more... )

Why did I ever think that 4 disks of Code Geass and Gankutsuou were enough anime to last 1 ½ years? Oh, right, because that’s what I own (and I’d misplaced Samurai 7 before I left). On a bright note, there’ll be plenty of new shows to check out when I get back! How I miss my internet connection…and YouTube. I haven’t gone to an anime con in ( Read more... )

…or how to blow your money on an Ethiopian-style shopping spree :)

Each month, the local NGOs get together for their market, also called the ferengi market, since all the people shopping are white foreigners. What’s for sale? Food, including stuff you usually don’t see here (I saw weisswurst for sale on Saturday, for instance - the Austrians are ( Read more... )

I have some time on my hands, especially while the students are taking tests (when I’m not supposed to be grading 300 exam papers in one weekend, I mean….), so I’ve been reading: books I brought with me, books from the high school’s library, and even a book a coworker lent me.

That last is The Sign and the Seal by Graham Hancock, a British ( Read more... )