Thoughts of America

Here are some of my random thoughts now that I've been back stateside for a couple weeks:

• There are a lot of fat people. 
• So much food!
• Seriously, 3+ full meals a day?  What is this, Christmas?
• There is no nsima, soya pieces, and veggies are expensive.
• Fruit has no flavor.
• But people are eating like there's no tomorrow.
• Did I mention the food?  I mean, seriously, these portion sizes.
• Not only portion sizes, but why does a menu need so many options?
• I want to order the dinner.  Don't complicate things.
• People know almost nothing about Africa or geography.
• Smart phones are ubiquitous, but direct human interaction is not.
• Almost every child out there is spoiled.
• Beer can actually come in more than 4 varieties, and tastes good.
• New Belgium is now available everywhere.
• Drafts!  It's even better than I remembered.
• Yet all this good beer, and everyone else seems to be a light-weight.
• Water comes out of taps and is already safe to drink.
• People drive really fast, but the cars are in such good condition.
• Taco Bell wasn't a fantasy, but a glorious reality.
• There are so many hipsters, it can only be defined as the mainstream movement, which makes my brain hurt.  
• And my soul hurts, too.
• Radio stations! We have them.
• In English.
• You can't make bad comments or curse in English in public places, because people know what you're saying.
• Pepper is a stable condiment.  Nice!
• So many napkins and paper towels.
• Petrol (gas) is really cheap.
• It isn't normal to go to bed when it's dark, but to use artificial light to stay awake for many hours, just to sleep way past sunrise using blinds to block out the real light.
• People are obsessed with money.  Well, that's about the same.
• Stories involving throwing rocks at dogs = not well received.
• Almost no one actually wants to hear about Peace Corps/Malawi.  Just quick answers.
• If you ask me what Peace Corps was like, and want a quick answer, I'm going to expect you to give me a quick answer on what the last two and a half years of your life was like.
• Also, don't ask me what Africa is like unless you're prepared to tell me what North and South America are like.  I lived in one small country.
• And no, I was not even close to the Ebola outbreak.  Europe is closer than Malawi.
• Gator Football...is miserable.  Let's be honest people.
• For that matter, the Bucs, too.
• But, the best part of all: CHEESE!!!

Back on the Road

After a week in the Daytona area catching up with family, and a weekend in Tampa catching up with more family and friends, I am now back on the road.  This week, Denver, then Oklahoma to visit Donald (old site-mate) before beginning a road-trip with Shannon (the one that visited Malawi).

I know, now that I'm back stateside, I'm far less interesting, so expect far fewer updates.  That being said, I will continue to maintain this blog through the end of the year, culminating in an epic finale.

Repatriated

Landing in the United States of America

Taxing into the airport, immigration, and my official return as an American citizen

Burj Khalifa

Food in Dubai

Restaurants Found in Dubai and not just in touristy parts of town

Hardy's

PF Chang 

Pink Berry

Papa John's

Subway

KFC

Burger King

McDonald's

Olive Garden

Chili's

Cheesecake Factory 

IHOP

TGI Fridays

Starbucks 

Panda

Panda Express

Tim Horton's

Dunkin' Doughnuts

Häagan-Daz

Baskin Robins

Cinna-bun

Nandos

Wing Stop

Wendy's

Debonair's

Red Lobster

Texas Roadhouse

UNO 

Gloria Jeans

Johnny Rocket's

Seattle's Best

Outback

Macaroni Grill

But, no Taco Bell!!!

P.S. I needed Google to find an actual Middle Eastern restaurant. 

Check out the name of this one

Goodbye Africa

Cam and I spent our last night in Africa, after 810 days straight without leaving, in Johannesburg (ok, Cam is still traveling through Morocco, but that hardly counts). Both of us had the same top priority: don't get shot or robbed.  Well, I'm happy to say that we succeeded.

Our "Last Supper", a late lunch when we got into Jo'berg, was at Carnivore. We are all sorts of meats, including zebra, springbok, impala, and kudu. It was amazing, and after two hours of waiters just bring big skewers of meat to our table and cutting us off pieces, we were stuffed. So, naturally, we had cheesecake.

That night was rather uneventful. We had a few beers, watched Mission Impossible 3 and most of Crank (until the bar where the TV was closed), then went to bed. Unfortunately, my mind was racing, so it took me 3 hours to get to sleep. 

The next morning, I was tired, but Cam talked me into following through with our plans (I didn't want to drive, but was definitely wrong) to visit the Apartheid Museum, where they currently have a special exhibit on Nelson Mandela. We spent 5 hours, and could've spent longer. Very educational with so much information. 

Then it was to the airport, some last minute curios shopping, a drink, and saying farewell to Africa...for now.

Swaziland

...is small. So small, that we drove across it, including through their biggest city at rush hour, and we were still on the road for less than 4 hours. 

...is a kingdom. With a king!

...has an awesome flag. The red is blood of the ancestors or the soil (depending on the source of information), the yellow is the gold found there, the blue is the sky, and the shield is black and white to show the countries racial harmony (which we only had two days to see, but it seems much better off than South Africa in this sense).

...has a hot springs tuned into a public pool. How cool is that?!?

...is beautiful.

Honoring Tom

A pretty cool set of events came together just right, and Amy, my Peace Corps recruiter and a Malawi RPCV, is in Eshowe, which we were already planning on passing by. So, we got to spend two nights hanging out with her. 

An even more amazing coincidence is that we would be spending September 3rd together. This year, September 3rd marks the fourth anniversary of the very tragic loss of Tom Maresco, a Gator PCV that was serving in Lesotho and passed away protecting a fellow PCV during a mugging gone very wrong. 

So, Amy, Cam, and I honored Tom the way any of us would have wanted, by celebrating his the life. We enjoyed a Black Label on the beach (his beer), saw zebras, then spent the evening back in Eshowe at Pablo Esco Bar, cheersing a life taken too soon.

Sanchia's

Sanchia, a good friend of ours and a former lecturer at Mzuzu University that left just about a month before we did, hosted us in Petermerytzburg for a few nights. It's was really neat getting to hang out in such a different setting from Malawi and her home-town. We got to experience the Indian-South African culture first hand. 

At one point, we went to a comedy show where we were heckled a little by one of the comedians (although, he showed his ignorance of the states when he asked Cam is Wisconsin was in the south). The funniest part of it was that, mid-joke, he'd stop walk over to where we were, and explain the South African context to us, in a very humorous way (we didn't really need most of the explanations, but still hilarious).