New goal, and an old idea

I added a new goal to my list: learn to write in HTML during my time in Morocco.

And I need to remember to put a picture gallery on my blog of when I went to Morocco the first time. Because this may be a new chapter of my life, it's one I'm revisiting more in depth rather than something new and foreign.

Forgot a third article that's also very informative

http://www.pri.org/arts-entertainment/arts/arabic-poetry-tv.html

from there:

“The Millions’ Poet” is the Arab world's "American Idol," but it's not about music; it's all about poetry.

Throughout much of the Arab world, millions of television sets are tuned to a wildly popular show. Think of it as the Arab version of "American Idol." The producers scout out talent from Saudi Arabia to Jordan to Kuwait. A panel of jurors hand-picks 48 contestants. The competition is stiff.

For 16 weeks, the contestants battle it out for a grand prize. By the way, one big difference between "American Idol" and this program? The contestants aren’t singing Elton John or Rihanna. In fact, they’re not singing at all. They’re reciting poetry. The show is called “The Millions’ Poet.” Mona al Ruwaini is a producer on the program out of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. She tells us the show is now in its third season.
.....

two articles I mentioned before that are online now

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106651219
Jordanian filmmaker channels Chaplin (looks great! "Captain Abu Raed")

and this one:

Son of Syria's "Pavarotti" Anas Fakhry melds heavy metal with classic Arabic singing from PRI's The World

http://www.theworld.org/2009/07/22/anas-fakhry/

I really hate that I can't embed these things here. And why not?
Nonetheless, that is the way things are.

Good times in NY

Been here a few days, and it is here where I see my international life has led me thus far. A place where anyone can feel at home. It takes a lot of study and travel in order to appreciate what is available here. Serena is here and we exchanged homework: she bought me an italian newspaper and I bought her one in Spanish. And our job is to read them before the weekend comes.

I feel too that I appreciate this city in ways that people born here were not. So far I've been happy here, but Serena is in Florida all this week, and so we have yet to see much except the bus between Bayonne and Astoria, and Wilson's apartment.

happy and safe in NY

Been here 1 hour or so, and Wilson's already filmed me for a commercial online! i will send the link when its up. now they are getting ready to film another one. i think wilson wants to go to a wine and cheese festival on sunday with ' a girl he is dating'. supposedly they got free tickets?

i already ate a real falafel sandwich, but since i bought it at 3 pm, they had run out of the eggplant & falafel combo sandwiches.
its fun to be around here again. i hope things stay that way!

I explained to a woman on the plane that I was going to Morocco, and since she was from New Jersey, she told me about this:
http://www.njskylands.com/clnatirar.htm

its a grogeous property, the most expensive in NJ, and the Royal family owned it for 20 years. maybe Serena and I can drive by it, if its not far away

thats all, just wanted to write.
amo a voi due donne stupende!

reminder to me:

tonite remember to download THE WORLD and listen to their story about the Syrian rock and roller

From POLITICO.COM

Before launching their careers on Capitol Hill, some congressional lawmakers got their first taste of mudslinging in a productive way — as volunteers in the U.S. Peace Corps. The program has served as an unlikely farm system for future members of Congress. Sen. Chris Dodd and Reps. Sam Farr, Tom Petri, Mike Honda and Steve Driehaus have all been among its ranks.

And it’s not just elected officials who have served in the Peace Corps before making their way to Washington. Journalist Chris Matthews was in Swaziland from 1968 to 1970, writer Maureen Orth was in Colombia from 1964 to 1966 — the same time as Farr — and current Ambassador to Iraq Chris Hill served in Cameroon from 1974 to 1976. (And he thought Africa was tough.)

The Peace Corps, which is hosting an event at the Capitol Visitor Center for staff and interns on Wednesday, gave us a peek at several politicos in their earthy Peace Corps days.

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.)

Volunteered in the Dominican Republic (1966-68)

“Over 40 years ago, when I arrived in the Dominican Republic as an English major who spoke almost no Spanish, I was asked a question I’ve been asked a thousand times since: ‘Why did you join the Peace Corps?’ The answer was simple: because an American president asked me to. My experience in the Peace Corps was perhaps the most formidable and richest of my life, and it is why I have spent my life in public service and continue to urge others to serve our great nation.”

Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.)

Volunteered in Colombia (1964-66)

“For two years, I lived amid severe poverty in Medellin, Colombia, helping the poorest of the poor figure out what they wanted from their government and then working with them to get it. I learned firsthand what contributes to poverty, and I’ve worked four decades to defeat it. As my wife said, I’m still a Peace Corps volunteer at heart; I’ve just changed my barrio.”

Rep. Tom Petri (R-Wis.)

Volunteered in Somalia (1966-67)

Petri’s spokesman shares this story: “Having finished law school, Petri was assigned to bring some order to Somalia’s legal code. Because of the country’s colonial history, some of the laws were in Arabic, some in Italian and some in English. They were numbered, so if you had a copy of law 100, you knew that there were 99 before it.

“Petri went to the custodian of the laws to request a complete copy. He was told that that would be impossible. He returned over the course of several days, sometimes bringing the custodian tea, and gradually obtained a law or two at a time. Eventually, the custodian took him to a room where the laws were kept, bound in twine and totally ignored.”

Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.)

Volunteered in El Salvador (1965-67)

“My time in El Salvador taught me so much. I went into the Corps as a college student shy of graduation with little direction; I emerged with the confidence that my emotional, psychological and physical limits had been pushed, plied and ultimately surpassed. I went into the Corps driven by the shame of my youthful lack of direction; I emerged determined to do something about the pervasive poverty surrounding me. I went into the Corps speaking one language; I emerged speaking another: Spanish, a gift that introduced me to a new world, gave me a new way of understanding new cultures and helped me connect to constituents in California. The Peace Corps got me back to the basics, and I realized that every day is a gift to be used wisely. That gift is what guides me now in Congress.”

Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Ohio)

Volunteered in Senegal (1988-90)

“I lived with a family in a village of 300 people, and she lived with us. When I look at this photo, I think I was much younger and I weigh less, and I have less gray in my beard. The Peace Corps was a fantastic experience. It was probably, with the exception of my marriage and my children, the most important experience in my life. Those 2½ years were very valuable. I had a prototypical Peace Corps experience — I lived in a rural area, and you have a far deeper appreciation for how so many millions of people live life around the world that is so different than ours.”

Driehaus adds: “I like to tease the others — they were all serving the year I was born.”

Ambassador Chris Hill

Volunteered in Cameroon (1974-76)

“In one month, I went from being responsible for very little in college to being responsible for the life savings of 6,000 credit union members in Fako Division, Cameroon. The Peace Corps gave me that chance. In many ways, it was the most important job I have ever had.”

Study: Most Children Strongly Opposed To Children’s Healthcare

This is very good too:

Obama Axes Pentagon Plan To Build Billion Dollar Tank In Shape Of Dragon

Something new ... countries of the world

Aside from building my chops in capoeira, and reading all of Charles Dickens, Mark Twain and the 1000 Arabian Nights, I hope to study the history of each country in the world while in Morocco, one country each week, learning its politics, basic thrust, gov't structure and the 5 most important cities in each one. Art, literature, culture, etc. Similar to THE TRAVEL BOOK by Lonely Planet, but more in depth.

And what better way to start than with Morocco?

So the next day or two I will have the first installment doing that!

"I didn't know I was still famous. Now I know"

Meanwhile, in Utah..

The Dave Chapelle quasi-performance from Portland last week is a great example of how people fail to appreciate the effect they have on others. My grandfather lived 80 years before he discovered other people cared about him, that they even liked him. And that was with 20 years of politics behind him, too!

Peace Corps volunteers go up and down with this. The sense of isolation that lasts for more than a year, or sometimes the entire two years. At least it's easier in the Internet age, but last year I sometimes only got on 2 days a month access. And that doesn't mean I didnt' try more often than that, riding on a dumptruck platform for 2 hours to get to Tarabuco and see if they have working internet that day.

They say you're never as famous as when you're in Peace Corps. And I believe it. I suppose that isolation alongside (or caused by?) the fame is the take-away lesson from Michael Jackson's press coverage of his death this month. And that you need to

I like to think of the people I know, in a horizontal fashion. What I mean by that is not what you might think. Instead, it's thinking something along these lines: If you go enough in one direction, you'll find the person you're looking for. You hear about things like the war in the Congo, in Darfur. Peace Corps volunteers in Morocco already. Friends in adjacent states. Girlfriends in Italy. It's easy to think of them without trying to imagine their world, as it is right now. In other words, it's easy to turn off your hearing after a few dozen yards around you, and that's the world you inhabit. But all of that stuff is happening concurrently. To me, it is comforting (sometimes shocking and depressing) to think in those terms instead of looking at other people as bit characters in the play of your life, drifting in and out, and otherwise vanishing from existence.

Would I like it if a person fails to acknowledge my existence every time I move away from earshot? Out of sight, out of mind? It's nice to see something like this video, where Dave seems really shocked that ten times as many people came as he believed would show up, with no advance notice at all. The article below, from the HuffPost, mentioned how it was through text messages that everyone spontaneously showed up once the others realized that Chapelle would be there. And, when I was in New York with Demetrius and Wilson, isn't that exactly what happened? Sitting with Will when he got that text message from Dee, and then twenty minutes later we were buying tickets to a comedy club where Dave performed for 6-7 hours nonstop?

Dave Chappelle at Pioneer Square

AP: PORTLAND, Ore. — Thousands of people who learned through text message, Twitter and word-of-mouth that comedian Dave Chappelle would hold a free show filled a downtown Portland square late Tuesday and early Wednesday.

Chappelle arrived at about 1 a.m. to a surge of camera phone-wielding fans. There was only problem – a small amplifier left the comic inaudible to most.

It's not clear why Chappelle was in Portland, and what led him to Pioneer Courthouse Square.

"I'm not here for money," he told the crowd.

Chappelle is best known for his sketch-comedy program that ran on Comedy Central. In May 2005, he walked away from a $50 million deal to continue the popular show.

Most people went to the square at the last minute, after receiving a text or other communication. Chappelle, who had no security or entourage, said he expected 200 people to gather – not the thousands that stood shoulder-to-shoulder.

Chappelle at one point announced that someone was going to retrieve a better sound system, and would return in 20 minutes. When the man came back, spectators fed power cords to the edges of the square to plug them in. But apparently there was no power.

Though the show fizzled, the mood remained festive and there were no arrests. Chappelle left the square shortly after 2 a.m.

Two important Peace Corps news items

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

____________________________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 14, 2009

President Obama Announces Intent to Nominate Aaron Williams as Director of the Peace Corps

WASHINGTON, DC – President Obama today announced his intent to nominate Aaron Williams to be Director of the Peace Corps.

President Obama said, "America was built on a belief that the best progress comes from ordinary citizens working to bring about the change they believe in. Through a lifetime of service, Aaron Williams has embodied the very best of that American ideal. I am grateful for his service and honored to nominate him to direct the critical work of the Peace Corps."

The announcement comes as the President prepares to throw out the first pitch at tonight’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game and appear in a video with all five living presidents to spotlight the stories of five of Major League Baseball’s "All-Stars Among Us," Americans who have undertaken extraordinary service in their communities. Answering the President’s call to service through United We Serve, Major League Baseball has dedicated this year’s All-Star Game and the events surrounding it to highlighting the critical importance of community service. United We Serve is the President’s initiative encouraging all Americans to engage in sustained and meaningful service in their communities.

Aaron Williams, Nominee for Director of the Peace Corps

Currently a Vice President for International Business Development with RTI International, Aaron Williams has over 25 years of experience in the design and implementation of worldwide assistance programs. As a senior manager at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where he attained the rank of Career Minister in the US Senior Foreign Service, and as Executive Vice President at the International Youth Foundation, Mr. Williams established innovative public-private partnerships around the world. As USAID Mission Director in South Africa, Mr. Williams led a billion dollar foreign assistance program during President Nelson Mandela’s administration. In addition to his work in South Africa, he has extensive experience in the strategic design and management of assistance programs in Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East; including long-term assignments in Honduras, Haiti, Costa Rica, and Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean islands region. In addition to his tenure with USAID, Mr. Williams served on the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid at USAID. Mr. Williams was awarded the USAID Distinguished Career Service Award and the Presidential Award for Distinguished Service twice. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and he serves on the Advisory Board of the Ron Brown Scholar Program, the Board of Directors of CARE, and the Board of Directors of the National Peace Corps Association. Mr. Williams served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic (1967-70). Upon completing his service, he became the Coordinator of Minority Recruitment and Project Evaluation Officer for the Peace Corps in Chicago (1970-71). Mr. Williams is fluent in Spanish. He is a graduate of Chicago State University, and has an MBA from the University of Wisconsin.

Second thing:

PC has a YouTube Channel!

http://www.youtube.com/peacecorps

It looks really good.

And tonite I'll watch Chris Matthews, he supposedly talks to two RPCVs, because tomorrow is the most important day for the More Peace Corps campaign.

Feeling expansive tonite: Peace Corps/ Foreign Service lifestyle

Watching TO JOY, by Bergman, and thinking how I have my Swedish grammar upstairs and that one day if I work hard and if Serena and I live in Stockholm one day, then I'll watch this movie and be able to speak some of the language!

Earlier I was thinking how if I just had an African language (Sub-Saharan), and do better with Chinese and then I'd know a language on all of the continents. That's the Pro diplomat way!

Now it's cheating if you say: I can communicate in those countries because I know the European language they speak. If that counts, then Spanish, Portuguese, French and English has you covered nearly everywhere. Except maybe Candelaria. Even Middle Eastern countries often speak French or English.

So I was thinking I'll pick up Xhosa. Not now, not in a few years. But, sometime. Even learning a few phrases is better than nothing. People think it's 100% or nothing, and that's a false dichotomy. Being able to order a drink, or make a salute- like Obama does everytime he is speaking before a foreign crowd-- that's cool enough to justify the work, however much you are able to do.

In case you don't know, Xhosa the language made famous by Miriam Makeba's Click Song. And I think that it was the thing responsible for me being invited to Peace Corps. I had an interview with my man Kyle, and it seemed like things were fine but there was never any moment where I felt like I had won him over. My qualifications were scarce, just the minimum, though I had the language background and I had the adventure experience.

But I was interested in hearing about South Africa and Lesotho, where Kyle served 2 years each in the PC. And he married a woman from Lesotho! So I tried to think of what I knew there, and of course I thought about Miriam Makeba. We were standing up and he was beginning to walk away. Then, it came out:

The question that got me into Peace Corps.

"So, did you learn to speak Xhosa during Peace Corps?" I said it CLICK-osa. The right way.

And he looked at me like I had just pulled a gun on him. "I'm surprised you know how to say that." And that was the moment I became a PC volunteer. So I suppose I'm just following that tradition further. Xhosa is like Quechua. There may only be 8 million people that speak each one in the world. But that's 16 million. And those doors would be closed to you otherwise.

Part of the process, then, is watching, observing. And what better way to do that than to watch a movie in Xhosa that won the Golden Bear @ the 2005 Berlin Film Fest? It's already at the top of my queue and will ship this week from Netflix!

A remake of Bizet's CARMEN opera, set in South Africa

I used to say that learning another language is like looking into the same room full of the same things, but you're now looking through a different window. The objects are the same, but you see different sides of the same things. It's not the same world anymore, things are more 3-dimensional. The relationship between things is more clear, the positioning of one thing to another is elucidated. Looking through just one of the windows, you only see things in 2-D.

I discovered to my dismay when I finished school that I hadn't learned anything new. I was telling my grandfather about this, who never went to college. I didn't learn anything new; instead I learned how to say what I already knew in 3 new ways. So now what I'm trying to do is learn more, as well as open those new windows.

But while a language is a window, I think it's also a key to completely new places that you've never seen. So much of the Sotomayor opening remarks at her confirmation hearing were trying to paint her as biased, prejudiced and racist. I disagree with that, but I think that some of prejudice just comes from the physical inability to communicate and share with another person if you don't know what they are saying. It's easy to transfer your feelings of impotency to them and paint them in your mind as base, not as smart as you.

So, here's a fun video:

Another one in the same language;

And this is the thing that started me thinking in this way:

A guy from PC Bolivia put this on his FB wall, and then a girl I knew, Karen, wrote:

OMG!!! this song makes me miss Peace Corps and every one of you boys that knew EVERY SINGLE word to this song!!! LOL!!!

ERES PARA MI, by Julieta Venegas and La Mala

A Ben like me is a friend indeed

I saw this song originally as a PBS commercial.  But I am especially happy to see the Portuguese translation in this clip.  

This is what I found in the info box:

Campanha pela mudança do mundo através de nossas próprias mãos.

O que as suas mãos sao capazes de fazer?
Ajude a tornar o mundo um lugar melhor!

Trabalho por Bárbara Busso e Thais Genta

More of the USA that I would share with Morocco: Bob Dylan

A few Tarabuqueñas that I never met

Tonite I finished the first season of Mad Men, and I was struck by the Bob Dylan song at the end. Don't Think Twice, It's Alright.

And so I thought:

Morocco. Going to live there. Don't think twice, it's alright.

But then something more accurate came to mind.

Morocco, going to live there: if nothing is right, then don't think twice. You put yourself where you need to be, and the rest will sort itself out.

(Photo from Jen McDowell's FB page)

It doesn't mean it's not painful, more and more everyday. Doesn't mean I'm losing something, because I'll nearly lose everything, my entire life here. Doesn't mean it won't be hard, because I know more the second time around and I know that it's so extremely claustrophobic sometimes, extremely isolating, extremely moving and heartbreaking.

The PC Bolivia Staff

Don't think twice, it's alright. Or, if nothing is right, then don't think twice. As good as it is walking towards A, it will always mean that you're walking away from place B. There's no perfect solution, and rarely one that's better. So that's all you can do, is walk.

At least for the time being.

I'm just glad I have Serena,

somebody to talk to and that gets excited.

(It makes sense if you saw Mad Men)

Serena, about 20 years before I met her. And not a single English word in her head!

Dreamed about Morocco and PCVs last night

The *very unusual* dream was:

I have never been to Amsterdam, but with the history of Morocco as a stoner destination, I think this clouded my dream as to how it would be. Funny that I thought this, since I've been to those places already, but I guess the true way I know these to be was overridden by my discomfort at the idea of serving in what was the hashish capital of the world for my PC country. But I remember going into an elaborate Casbah type complex, made of stone, and that was the PC Country Director's home.

There were giant sofas and a wall full of DVDs, books and music. In the dream, the man also had a medical marijuana type bar. I wasnt thrilled about that. Maybe my mind was centered on that because I knew people who were arrested in Bolivia for smoking pot, and I knew that other volunteers were messing with it and endangering our PC post, and worldwide PC reputation.

But the people around, in my training group and those PCVs that show up during training for medical reasons, or whatever, they seemed great. Even though we somehow began the conversation talking about anal sex. ??

I never remember my dreams unless I wake up in the morning and fall back asleep. This is what happened today, and so that's what happened.

The other Morocco news is that I completed a survey to help the Maroc staff place us in the right home. I was very lucky about this last year, since I got the one home where the parents and children ate vegetarian food, too! Will I be lucky again this year? I was glad to see that there were two questions about vegetarian food on the survey.

Email from an old friend

I met Cristina Cruz on the airplane in what would be a trip to Europe that would change my life. We shared book notes seated next to each other, she with House on Mango Street and me with 100 Years of Solitude in Spanish and English.

I went all over, until I got to Istanbul, then when I went back up towards London I stopped in Lausanne, Switzerland (where Frankenstein was written, and the girls from Middlemarch grew up) . The goal: go to the Montreux Jazz Festival. I had two tickets, but never found Cristina.

We exchanged emails and I kept writing to her, but hadn't gotten anything in quite a long time. But it turns out she was just busy, and when the Jazz Festival happened again this year, she wrote to me. It's something that pleased me so greatly. Right now on PBS they are playing a documentary about music, and a guitar player with a brain hemmorage:

http://www.pbs.org/pov/lifesupportmusic/music.php

His personality wasn't evident for two years, until he had a gig. And he didn't come back visually, in his gestures, but audibly, through the notes and melodies he played.

When you don't get an email back from someone for a long time, for no apparent reason, it's scary because you think something could have happened, injury or death or ... ? Prison? Swine flu?

The same thing happened in our Penguin classics book club. A man wrote how he was having surgery and then never replied again on the webpage. And without knowing anything other than this person's user name and his thoughts on literature, you become attached to the guy and it matters if something went wrong, or who-knows.

Moral of the story? Got to get out of the house. It's an imperative. Because Montreux is waiting, Serena is waiting, people that love the same books as you are waiting. Waiting for you to come and meet them, share some laughs, some good food and vino.

Another good PBS show that was on earlier was about a Palestinian boy who was slain, and they donated his organs to people in Palestine and in Israel. Then the family went to meet all of the recipients, which is an arduous journey in itself.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/heart-of-jenin/introduction/4991/

PBS rocks

And this was a great show about music. Unforgettable. I'd like to read the book now!

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/musicminds/

Goal 2 and 3

If your job is to share our culture with them, and their culture with us, how do you that? What do you choose?

I think I'd choose Stevie Wonder singing at MJ's funeral (that was on 30 mns ago). Then something like this:

Workout today - 2.5 miles

I realize that I have either been underaccomplishing during my workouts, or that the past one-mile workouts have helped me become ready to run more than 2 miles at a time without stopping. So this is especially good! 2.5 miles nonstop is 2.5x more than I've done in months. So I'm looking forward to progressing faster than I expected, and this gives me hope that I'll be marathon ready this winter.

The great thing is that it felt fine, no back aches or anything. My foot is still puffy from where the wasp bit it (it was swollen about 4x larger than I've ever seen it!). And I'll probably be sore from the huge increase in mileage today. But if I was able to run that far every day of the week, that'd be twenty miles a week!

It was extremely nice to go for that long, since I feel that my whole body was exercised, it's now completely relaxed, and it was exciting to see how much I could do. I didn't slow my pace down any at all, either! So it was a good smooth run, bare foot on the grass in the inside on the edge right next to where the track begins, just like I've done for the past month.

The big difference came because I picked 6 songs to listen to on an To-Go list. So it was about 22 minutes continuously, and I told myself not to stop until it had played the whole thing. Then I just add songs with each week, and run a little more. Playing it psychologically rather than mathematically is a great deal more fun. Here I come Marathon des Sables, here I come Al Andalus UltraTrail, here I come Sparta!

Hard part about Peace Corps is getting there

Summer time before leaving for Peace Corps is not easy. If you know you will be gone for two years, what do you do in the last eight weeks? You can't do everything. I discovered that this week. Starting at Christmas, I was able to wait to do something until I made enough money. But now I feel like an airplane without enough runway. I normally could have gone to Santa Fe this week, where my Bolivian family is right now. But instead I'm leaving for Peace Corps, so I have a list of things I need to buy, a new eye exam and a stronger pair of glasses, the coming trip in New York.

But having to decide what I'll be doing when, in this little bit of time left, helps me focus and concentrate on what's important. New York trumps Santa Fe because my Bolivian friends saw me every day when I was there--except the day I never came back--when Serena did not. And I'm focused on enjoying the things I do as fully as possible, since it is them that I will be thinking about and missing a year from now.

The majority of people that apply give up on Peace Corps. And not when they get in country, either. Really, what happens is that the application process is so long, daunting, and expensive (especially the dental and medical) that you are forced to quit. I'm glad then that I don't even have to worry about applying for my Peace Corps passport since it's already waiting for me in the cabinet outside this room. It means I can enjoy the other more important things more thoroughly in the time left. It's sad, but everyone seems to be more and more excited about it.

THE TIME TO BE HAPPY IS NOW, THE PLACE TO BE HAPPY IS HERE

A big realization from my time in Bolivia is that I was worried less about being away from home doing something important, and worried about that, and more just anxious and depressed about death. Specifically with my mother. But I can't let that keep me from living, or seeing the world. It brings something new into the relationship when I go away, and I can share it with her, places she's never seen or imagined. And if I were home doing nothing, just being constantly near her, then that becomes repetitive and it strains the relationship (sort of like now, not having a job!). It's like I missed the forest for the trees. Being homesick to me was less about being far away from this person, and it was more the realization that they will never live forever. And that's not something that I can change, close to her or far away. And I feel the same despair at that whether I am here or not.

It's not hard. But the bad thing is there's plenty of things that I won't miss. People that are unbearable to be so close to. But many great ones too that I just became better and better friends to. I'm lucky, but I'll be happy to live in a different home, one of my own. PC gives me the opportunity to be self-sufficient, and master of my own domain. Or is that just an illusion? Hard to say.

: (

But, to say it again: the time to be happy is now, the place to be happy is here. I'm glad I've had this summer. Hard to think that if I wasn't evacuated, I'd be in Bolivia still.

first heard this a year ago when I found it in the Bolivian bootleg DVD store. Then I listened to it and it made me homesick for the year before tha

first heard this a year ago when I found it in the Bolivian bootleg DVD store. Then I listened to it and it made me homesick for the year before that, when I was in Montreux at the Jazz festival on Brazilian night (this is a Brazilian song )

Then that idea made me homesick for two years before, when I was learning Portuguese and I was in Brazil...

Guitar professor is in Iran now, and my great Motivator

I wonder how Lily is doing. After seeing her concert and connecting with her again, I gave her $30 USD to buy me anything from there written in Farsi, a novel or magazines, newspapers. I told her I especially want a Farsi-Arabic dictionary. I can read it pretty fine already, but it is different. The most gorgeous thing ever is the cascading script.

To the right here is a picture from Shakira in the studio. I need motivation, and she always seems to provide it at the right times in my life. I was taking college classes in four languages when her Oral Fixation cd came out (where she sang lyrics in eight, or something). When I dreamed of doing Ironman for children's charity, she was scaling up her childhood education efforts. I was 19 when I finished the 140.6 mile race, and she was 18 when she started her nonprofit Pies Descalzos. I started a train ride through Eastern europe, and I had tickets to see her show at the final destination, the furthest from England that I went, in Istanbul. It helped get me there, knowing she'd be waiting at the end to sing.

So her albums and tours seem to mimick the ups and downs in my life, and her philosophy and spirit help drive me to reach for my own goals. Similarly to Obama, she pushes the people that look up to her, and harnesses that energy. In a letter I wrote to Obama once that I never mailed, I told him how ' you can't ever ask too much of us, we believe and will do all we can.' In other words, don't understimate us. And I think Shakira is much the same way. Hate to blabber on about this, but it pleases me to have someone push me, that helps me to set very high goals and then surpass them. And she tries to engage her audience to make the world better, so I am only responding to that. The more she and Obama do that--as well as continue to live by the same principles and with that large well of compassion-- then the better for all of us.

(All of these photos are from her website shakira.com and her brand-new twitter feed, twitter.com/shakira)

First week on the Engine 2 diet, and running plan

The end of the first week on the Engine two diet. Haven't weighed, but I feel good. The biggest change has been getting rid of the processed breads, and things with cheese in them. I ate as much as usual, though, but I do feel that it was better quality food.

Some of the things I ate:

steamed brown rice half of the week, and homemade cereal were the main things

curry tofu/veggies from Pei Wei in Memphis

a few falafel burgers, with avocado and low-fat honey mustard salad dressing

blue chips with salsa and avocado

vegan Tasty Bite entrees, the Bombay potatoes and the vegetable stew one

two burritos made with mama's kidney beans, mexican seasoning and bell peppers

an all veggie, no-cheese homemade pizza

Not much pasta, but I hope to make some peanut sauce tomorrow, a lot of it, and drizzle it onto some pasta with a crumbled up soy sausage patty.

I feel less hungry eating these foods. I think eating the processed breads was what was the worst. Not just sliced bread, but cheese biscuits, chocolate chip muffins, cookies and cakes. It got ridiculous there for a while.

close-up on the cereal: it's home-made by Mama, and has oats, dried fruit and nuts, walnuts and sunflower seeds, and I add strawberries, bananas and blueberries every time I eat it, plus a little bit of dark chocolate. Then it's soy milk. Since I'm eating vegan food on this diet, minus anything processed, then I was worried for the first time that I would miss the one key nutrient, B12. But, a cup of the soy milk has 50% of the required daily amount, and I drink much more than that. At the same time, I try to stay away from too much soy because it's supposed to be high in hormone production.

The only thing that's been upsetting my plans towards the 2012 Spartathlon is.... wasps. Number one enemy against America right now, Colbert would say. But it's bad. I was attacked by 4 or 5 of them when I was running bleachers on a beautiful night. I had been upset yesterday and so I expected the exercise to be therapeutic for me, but it wasn't meant to be. I did the bleachers at the beginning, and when I got to the top they all came out and one bit me on the foot. Then I walked around the track and felt the poison go all the way to my groin. And it felt like those places had been bit again, too. Now it's Saturday the 4th, and my foot is swollen twice the size.

It hurts just to stand. So when will I run again?

Happy 4th to my friends... last time we were in Bolivia!

But 4th of July smells better here

Today´s music video from Iranians in NY

Hard to believe I'll be living in Africa in just 3 months

South African Street Soccer from Demetrius Wren on Vimeo.

This is from my director friend Demetrius Wren's latest and greatest project, STREETBALL...www.streetballdocumentary.com/ . Can't wait to see it, especially since he'll be traveling to Milan, Italy to film the last scene in it this fall! I should get Serena to come see him and help him get around.

A Love Song For Cape Town from Demetrius Wren on Vimeo.

Running wisdom

Talked to Chris Lauer earlier about his training for the Portland marathon, and I repeated my refrain about running being an opportunity for self-exploration, and you are both researcher and subject in an experiment, with the race as the controlled climate where you are able to safely test your bounds.

But just now I read this from Runner's World... a piece of wisdom about running compared to other sports. From Sarah Palin, who I discovered is a sub 4:00 marathon runner!

Sounds like your skills were more suited to basketball?
Well, I appreciated the fact that in running I needed guts more than anything. I could do fine just being really determined. I was thankful that I didn't need a whole lot of skills to run.

Good MJ video

I've seen this before, but it was featured on HuffPost.