travelers attract travelers

travelers also attract exciting and romantic lives
N was off traveling europe when she met a boy from Australia and then transferred to his school for 6 months
T went off to Guatemala and had a good time
A traveled the world and met some Turkish man.
L traveled to TZ to find a boy from California.
L moved to the big city and loves it (like I knew he would).
J decided to move to Poland and loves it enough to go to school there.
K and A both moved back to Poland and K is getting married soon.
S found her Australian lover in the big city, followed him to nyc and now he's coming back.
M moved to Cape Town and has made it her home.
H traveled abroad for a quarter and decided to stay to work for a year or two.


and me? I'm a lot of stories. But I came back. this time.

Answer to my lecture note taking issue.

It's so wonderful and easy to use! Now if only computers could generate documents from scanned pages of books instead of leaving them as picture pdfs....

which is more appropriate: Third World country or developing country?
What are the list of requirements for a Third World country? What's the pivotal point at which a developing country becomes a developed country? Do I live in a developed country?

for once, i'm super p u m p e d about school. so p u m p e d, that I am registered for 18 credits and way in over my head. Maybe I should drop a class?

obviously there is a lot to be reflected on and said about the adventure I just had, but I've got more important lingering questions on my mind right now.

Last summer i was introduced to the world of fine cheeses and chocolates. thanks. that did me a whole lot of good as both are so incredibly healthy and nutritionally dense (sarcasm never ceases). though I did not dine on fine red meats this summer, i have found a new passion and craving for them. so what am I getting to exactly? well you see. I haven't adjusted completely to the time difference and I woke up at half three (damn brits and your way of speaking) totally starving. So I defrost some veggies and a beloved tofu corn dog. As i was eating the delicious fake meat invention I kept thinking, "why dont people make real sausage corn dogs?"

next dinner plan.

wait a second. I didn't get a chance to post about the "big event" aka i got run over by a pikipiki/motorcycle a few hours before I was supposed to leave Dar Es Salaam.

long story short: I was wandering about the city pretending not to be lost but actually totally and completely lost in a very busy market-y part of town. I was quite proud of myself for having wandering into the real Dar Es Salaam where there were no signs in English, no wazungu, no fancy restaurants... just plain ole Tanzanian culture. Lots of dukas, loads of fabric shops and electronic/houseware/misc stores. My goal of the afternoon was finding more birth control (it's just $.13 a pack), trying to fiddle my way into buying strong pain killers, finding herbal medicines for no specific ailment, purchasing a rather large and sharp knife for my father, possibly finding more fabric and of course, dried dates.

wait this was supposed to be the short version.

I see a pharmacy across the street, watch traffic, make my move. stop in the middle (where my side was stand still), checked the other side, made my next move (the near death one).
motorcycle/pikipiki comes up behind the car I am in front of with far too much acceleration, knocks me to the ground and runs me over.
being me, I get up in complete confusion and sit down on the curb with one three lettered thought, "WTF".
An extremely nice gentleman takes me into the pharmacy that I was planning on going to anyway (just not in the same fashion) and gets the clerks to clean me up and bandage me well enough to get on my way. that was quite the experience. not only was I stared at blantantly because I was the only white person in a considerably large mile radius, i was also stupid enough to get hit by a moving vehicle and have massive wounds all over my body.

short short.

Basically, I thought i had broken my jaw and thumb, but the only real damage was done to my knees, calf, left foot (I thought the gash was deep enough to see my bone... im still not entirely sure), left hip, chin, cheek and palm. Here is a photo about 36-48 after it happened:



(i'm not sure of the time because I was in flight for 32 hours yet I arrived at my destination 10 hours after I left the departure point).

I'm afraid to touch the wounds because the bruises are massive. So massive my knee cap is actually numb in a few places.


so much for looking nice on the first day of class. Also, i was half hoping to be covering from malaria on the first day of class since I have two courses concerning "emerging diseases" and "microbiological transmission of infectious diseases". instead I just get run over.

An update before I physically leave the continent is definitely necessary.

location: Dar Es Salaam. on my own.

discoveries of the last 24 hours:
Dar Express bus station is super far from the city centre and taxis are expensive
make reservations at hostels a week in advance or else you're stuck with a pricey room
I dont like traveling on my own

The only time I ever get stressed is when money is involved, but Im not allowing that to happen on my last day here. My room is a double; one bed to sleep in and one bed to keep all of my stuff on. I've got a nice fan and my own bathroom. YES my own bathroom with HOT water. I didnt feel bad at all taking a 15 minute shower and using up alot of soap (that I have to toss today anyway). Also, I have digital cable! So I watched Smash Lab (new favorite) followed by Mythbusters (old favorite).
And for dinner I treated myself to some delish octopus.

It was a good day.



and now I will attempt to find a market, buy some fabric and atleast a kilo of dried dates. my favorite.


seattle, i am ready. I think.

not sure quite what to say yet.


back from zanzibar. the plane broke and we were delayed 12 hours. that's 12 hours i could have spent buying cute things, eating food... OR EXPLORING THE STREETS. just beautiful.


i go home soon. 2 weeks. is that enough? was that enough time? too much time?