The Good Ol' US of A

So I thought I'd use this trip to the States as 1) reunion with friends and family, 2) shopping trip, 3) chance to update my blog, 4)Massage, pedicure, and acupuncture, and 5) chance to find support (read $$$) for my textbook project. So far, the reunion side of things has taken pretty much all my time.

It has been nice though. I went to my cousin's marriage. Congratulations Kyle!! Check out the pictures. I had a chance to see my friends in Seattle, some of whom, I haven't seen in almost two years (Will and Kaylen in particular for MORE than two years). Where does the time go? I guess it really does start to run away from you as you get older.

And speaking of, am I starting the downward slide in age when I drive through Seattle's U-district and see a group of what look like seventh graders trooping across the road, only to realize they're freshmen? 'Wow, did we ever look that young?' I asked. My buddy said, 'Yes we did, and really, you still do.' What else are friends for?

Going back to my USA goals, #2 - I've had almost zero chance to shop. #4 - I've not gone for a massage or pedicure, but I do have an acupuncture appointment tomorrow night in Seattle for some headaches I've been experiencing. Since my last post was while I was still in Niamey, I've obviously failed in #3, and, as for #5, I haven't drumed up a single dollar for my textbooks yet, but this particular goal I'm gonna put some more effort into before I leave (This one and #2, shopping... have to enjoy this consumer experience while I can). I'm drawing up flyers to pass out, maybe even just on the street in Seattle. Check one out, print it off and hand it out to people who could help me out. Note that it's a jpeg because I couldn't get google documents to share PDFs, but it should still work.

So the reason I'm getting a little concerned about this project is that Peace Corps Washington, the headquarters that is, has emailed me, concerned that I will not acheive full funding for this project and they want me to scale it back. I don't want to scale it back; even as it is now, the books are still being shared, anything less will still be great and all, but it won't be an optimal result. I've been given a reprieve until the 1st of January to drum up the donations. It should be noted that Peace Corps doesn't fund these projects, volunteers are responsible for finding their own. If it seems to you that this can be a little harmful to the impact volunteers can have in the field, I would full-heartedly agree, but then we need to get PC more funding and alter it's structure to be more supportive of volunteers. I could talk a lot about that, maybe in a future post.

Today, however, I wanted to run down the details of this project real quick for those who may be interested: I'm working with my local school administrations to supply English textbooks at the middle school level. It would cover the two public middle schools for my town, approximately 900 books would be given for the use of 1600 students. The idea is to have them for in class work and then work after school or in our community library, but that the books would not be taken by the children as a way of ensuring they survive a longer time. Each child in each class would have a book to read from while in class. Simple idea, but requires $ to do it and so I'm at the whims of economics in the US it appears. However, your donation is TAX DEDUCTIBLE, so what do you have to lose by sending $30 or $40 and helping 3 or 4 children learn english?

But other than being worried about your project, you may ask, how was it coming back to the US?

Well, it's a trip. I can't believe all the STUFF that you can buy here. We really are quite the consumer culture. I just sat and laughed at the meat wall in QFC the other day. There was more meat on that one wall than in all of niamey, and it was all GOOD cuts, not the fat and bone I'm used to eating. I almost started crying walking through the mall when I began to think that the amount of commerce JUST in that one mall was enormous compared to what I see in Niger, not even playing the same ball game.

I'll be getting more to that in my next post, when I've had some time to digest this trip and all. (As well as the food... I've put on 10 pounds or so in a week and a half. We eat REALLY well here, no wonder I see fat kids again. They don't exist in Niger)

This is long enough to have driven some people away for sure, so last things: Couple of more albums added to Picasa: GAD stuff (GAD is a volunteer funded source of project financing, by us and for us, so it's a small amount of money) and some basketball pictures.

Thanks to all my friends for taking me out and about in Seattle this weekend. I know I just blew in and out, but it was great to see you all.