unrelated series of events

No theme to this entry, just a few random thoughts after a hectic but fun weekend...

Had a friend from college come visit me, very briefly, over the weekend. It was a lot of fun, though tiring. As much as I rag on my mother for acting like a freak when we have guests come to visit, I guess I've kind of inherited that trait (granted her guests are usually just family, and they're usually just coming from central Illinois to central Wisconsin, not quite the pressure situation of recieving someone from halfway around the world)... That said, my house (or I should say my room, the only part of my house not cleaned by my housegirl) was pretty funky and, as always, having a guest was just the motivation needed to get everything spick and span, as spick and span as a house can look when there are termites and hard cement floors and such.

But it was a nice visit, I get so few guests in my little town that all the townspeople were excited to tell her that I'm their friend and to brag about all the cultural/lingual knowledge they've passed alogn to me. It was fun for me too, seeing how much I've integrated and kind of getting a weekend through the eyes of someone completely foreign to this area. Increases appreciation for some of the little things around me (fresh fruit and veggies), and helps me realize that some things I struggled without I've now almost completely forgotten (hot showers! ok, not yet completely forgotten....)

While in town Saturday, I managed to find a TERRIFIC little grocery store that is not a 'wazungu' palace (wazungu means 'white people'). Which means that all the good stuff I want at a grocery store was there (powdered milk, cocoa, peanut butter, coconut powder, ketchup, evaporated milk to make pumpkin pie!, even snickers bars), but at a decent price. It's a nice balance, I get all the stuff I need in one store at good prices, versus going into the Mwanza main market, which is a crazy zoo of vendors and thieves and stuff stacked up haphazardly everywhere you look. Also, this store has price tags, so I know I'm not getting ripped off. I've decided recently that it takes so much time and energy to bargain in the main market, since they jack the prices up at least 50% when they see me, that it's just easier to pay a bit more (not much now that i've found this new place) and get set prices than try to haggle.

My soap opera is getting good, and I hope by getting good, that also implies it's nearing the end, because I really don't want to waste more of my time and delay more of my sleep on a piece of junk that, nevertheless, I really do have to watch. Isabela got shot by Sabbas (hired by Rodrigo) a few days ago, which was finally enough to get Soledad to tell Alejandro it's over, though he doesn't agree. Now Emperatriz has just found out it was her husband, so will she continue to collude in crime with him or go back to Remelia and Lucia whom she betrayed??!!

I was reading a magazine on retirement the other day. It was pretty scary, especially because I don't even know what I want to do after Peace Corps, let alone after a career. One thing I am thinking about, and becoming more convinced of, is the idea of retiring outside of the US - maybe Central America or East Asia or hell even East Africa again. Much cheaper, and the opportunities to do other non-profit work would hopefully be plentiful. Hell, I could even reenlist and do the PC again, I greatly admire some of the older folk (60+) doing PC here in Tanzania (few but strong), might not be a bad second bookend on the work-dominated-phase of my life. That said, my number one goal in life at this point, no let me rephrase that, the only thing that I am certain about in my life is that I, under no circumstances, no matter what curveballs are thrown my way in the game of life, no matter what problems or struggles I face, even if I need an expensive hip replacement and this is the only way to finance it, I will NEVER, EVER, WORK AS A GREETER AT A WALMART STORE.