Quote of the Week
Me: Aux États-Unis, seulement les lâches bâtaient les femmes! Et ils vont à la prison pour ca !

Picture this : A group of volunteers… sitting poolside at a hotel… drinking liberally… smoking cigarettes… contemplating the benefits or marijuana… eating expensive Snickers bars from our weekly raid at the “Super Marche”…and discussing our future (for some people, present) bouts of promiscuity. Did I mention that we are Health volunteers? 3 months of training does that to you. FYI- Have no fear, parental units: Other than swimming, the only thing that I personally participated in was the eating of the Snickers.

Anywho, boys and girls! It’s that time of year!! Those of you who kno me kno how ecstatic this time makes me. There are so many good things about it (hint-my birthday! Christmas! My birthday! Christmas!). I was thinking back to Christmases past... how I yearned for an Easy-Bake Oven… for a clarinet… for new ballet slippers… for Dark Ages of Camelot… for a Palm Pilot. Let me tell you what I would do right now just for some drinkable water… Forget the Mardi Gras beads. Just throw me a bottle of Poland Springs. And for a Kit-Kit?? Give it to me and we will talk.

I am exhausted. Mentally. Physically. Gastro-Intestinally. 12 weeks of training is violent. And in traditional school-style, the trainers have crammed the last few weeks with everything they could possibly think of. The past week has been non-stop assignments, quizzes, exams, presentations… not to mention class and all of the time it takes to prepare the presentations… in French. Of course I am used to this thanks to RPI, but it is a little different in Africa. When electricity is unreliable or simply not present at all, you’re racing to get things done before the sun sets. That gives you roughly until 6:30… Class finishes at 4:30… not too much of a window there. That means that it’s just me and my kerosene lantern… up into the wee hours of the night.

Anyone know anything about alternative energy implementation for small villages and/or structures? Or cooling systems/refrigeration that does not require electricity? Or water harvesting? Or water filtration, also sans electricity? Or where to get a reliable cordless blender in the US, so my mommy can send me one? Or where I can get some freakin castor oil in the Extreme North, North, or Adamaoua provinces? Or just some decent green tea? Holler at me.

Moving on: Don’t you have something to do? Like go buy me presents? Better get on that cuz packages take awhile to get here. That’s right. :D

Your weekly TMI- Someone needs to send The J Sisters to me ASAP.

posted by Me at 10:28 AM