General update

I sent this email out a little while ago but I know that I dont have everyone's email so this is just a general update...

Hi everyone,
The spat of emails checking up on me over the past few days was a kick
in the pants to write. Thanks everyone for reminding me.

Things are going pretty well here. I am now half way through my contract at PSF and have settled into life. Rwadda doesnt seem quite so foreign anymore, in fact, it is starting to feel a little like home. Life is really pretty routine here, in its own way. I spend most of my time cooking or watching dvds or studying french. OK I dont really study french that much but it felt good to say. I found a gym about a month ago in the giant hotel near my house and go there a couple of times a week. Especially after seriously spraining my ankle a couple weekends ago leading to a swift curtailment of running. There are small differences, like the fact that my oven is about the size of a toy oven and can only fit one baking sheet in at time, making any kind of baking take twice as long. There is the fact that the gym is the size of a small bedroom but it does have a tv, so if there is a football (soccer) game on, there is always a crowd of hotel employees ringing the room with their faces pressed up against the glass watching. The dvds are usually pirated versions and occasionally have people walking in front of the camera that someone somewhere smuggled into a movie theater. The power has been a little spotty lately. It will be fine and then will just shut off for five or ten seconds and come back on. Its no problem except that it screws up downloads from itunes, which take days or weeks or in some cases months to finish.
Last weekend, I went to Bujumbura in Burundi with Carey and Leigh, two of my friends here. It was a beautiful, right on the coast of a very large lake and completely ringed by mountains. Across the lake in the distance, we could see the Congo. I have the idea in my mind that the Congo is all jungle, not too different than the Heart of Darkness. From the few glimpses I have had of the Congo and the total lack of development along the lake or in the mountains, I am pretty sure that I am not too far off. Carey, Leigh, and I just relaxed on white beaches and drank Amstel Bak, the only medium bodied beer I have had in six months and it only took a six hour drive to get it. Sometime later this month, Leigh and I are going to go up to Lake Bunyoni in Uganda and do much the same thing. As much as I love Kigali, there is a serious lack of bodies of water in town. We dont have to go as far as Burundi or Uganda to get to lakes of course, but if you are traveling anyway, why not?

In other news, I have gotten a few calls from graduate schools regarding the PhD applications I submitted in a panic a few months ago. Now that they are actually thinking of accepting me, I have to figure out what the heck I want to do. I was hoping to put the decision off another year or two but it seems as though, destiny was not going to give me the option. So there is a good chance that I will be back in the States in August, although where in the states is still up in the air. Either way, it will be a coast though, thats for sure. Oddly enough, I think the thing that I am most looking forward to, besides of course seeing all of you, is the seasons. The weather here is beautiful every day and although that isnt really a reason to complain, I look at pictures of people in winter clothes and the upcoming spring fashions (yes I look at pictures of spring fashion online) and I cant help but be a little envious. Wearing the same six or seven outfits gets pretty old and I miss the way the air feels different depending on what season it is.

So all in all, things are good. There are days when I love being here and cannot think about coming home and other days when I would give anything to be back. And usually those are actually the same day or even the same hour.

I love all of you. Please keep emailing me!