The Middle of Nowhere

Ever wondered what it's like to be there? I don't mean some Dostoyevskian alienation or Tibetan solitude, I mean, for all intents and purposes, the middle of nowhere. ThisAmericanLife has a wonderful program on an island in the middle of the Pacific that is impossible to find on a map, but which has turned up in the most unexpected places. Here it is. It is a story of desperate reality, short-sighted international politics, money-laundering, adventure, and much, much more. Let me know what you think. But be warned: I think the host is awesome, yet his voice is a bit annoying at times. Also, the follow up piece to this, about a woman on hold for months, has this woman that seems kind of.....elitist. Still though, it's another great piece. If you're bored or reading or doing dishes and you want to listen to something, this is a great program. Happy listening!

Beer

Wow I guess I'm not the only one getting excited about the cerveza. Here is a cool link from the nytimes featuring, among other things, the overcoming of the "frat party" reputation, and the disappointing beer selections at otherwise fine restaurants.

Spring

Less of a tocsin and more like right before, when the sun scrapes itself toward our locked houses and abandoned interstates, spring is here. I didn't really know it was until I noticed, pulling into the cul-de-sac this weekend, that everything green was being trimmed, prodded, pulled, and planted (often at the same time) by an army of neighbors almost forgotten to memory. Spring is here, let us rejoice! their actions said, and the moment was complete, my sleepy head shaken from its months-old comfortable spot, and in search of a new resting place.

The mountain laurel is gorgeous this year, as is this vine that has taken to our fence. I have no

idea what it is and don't remember seeing it before, but I guess it doesn't need a name for now. Ronald is getting big and adventurous. He fights with anything that moves, and uses shoulders and faces (ours) to springboard from the floor to the couch to the kitchen with no concern for our scratched ears and legs; the new LaPoint is a tattoo artist. To anyone wondering if this blog has anything to do with Africa or the Peace Corps, I say not really. I'm still leaving on June 4th for Philadelphia and June 6th for Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. I filled out my last visa applications today and will send them in tomorrow. Besides that, there's nothing more I can tell you. Burkina is a relatively, if not completely, unknown corner of the world. Googling it can probably tell you more than I can, I haven't been outside of Texas for over a year. What's that, enough with the Peace Corps talk you say? You want to see a picture of Ron? Alright alright, here he is coming out of the canoe in the backyard to look around. I went hiking last Saturday morning at Enchanted Rock, which is awesome if you've been wanting to hike. The drive is about two hours but worth it. Actually the drive itself is just as enjoyable. I saw bison, a camel, cyclists, and endless vineyards and wineries on the way to Fredericksburg. I've been getting really into beer lately, not in the sense that I pass out regularly on my parents' couch with a blanket of empty bottles over me, but in the way that it is a lot of fun tasting different beers from different places. I had a love at first taste moment with Grant at the Flying Saucer, a bar in San Antonio. It was a Maredsous 10, and I looked for it for the last month only to find out that hardly anyone can get it here in America right now. The Maredsous 6 and 8 are fully stocked everywhere I go, but the narrow space in the beer aisle where the 10 should be resting has plagued me to no end. Well that's not true, but pretty close. Anyway, my mom told me yesterday that there was something in her trunk that she couldn't carry into the house. I went out there to get it (I'm really glad that for once I didn't complain that I had to carry something, that would have been horrible), and it was an entire case of Maredsous 10! It really doesn't get any better Mom, thanks a lot. I'm thinking about trying to get a trip organized to go to a brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado, if anyone has any interest in taking a roadtrip on the cheap. We could make the drive from Austin to Colorado Springs in one day, and then head up from there. Now that I think about it, I actually do have something related to Africa to share. Africa can be very expensive to get to; it makes a flight to Europe look like a southwest airlines hop from Dallas to Austin. But it doesn't have to be this way. Here's a great article from the New York Times regarding money-saving flights to Africa (in case you ever want to come visit). Also, malaria is a real concern for the people in West Africa. It destabilizes families, villages, and the entire economic system. Thankfully, a French drug company has announced that it will sell its malaria pills at no profit to Africa. Here is an article about that (in English). And one more link, this one less about Africa and more about general perspective. Try it out here, it's actually really interesting and only takes a second. Well that's all for me. I finished Arthur Miller's memoir last week at the YMCA, and it ended with a beautiful paragraph. If you've read to this point in my blog, it'll only take another twenty seconds to read this, time very well spent. It's so wonderful, especially considering it is the last paragraph of a man drifting away in his thoughts while looking back on his life.

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And so the coyotes are out there earnestly trying to arrange their lives to make more coyotes possible, not knowing that it is my forest, of course. And I am in this room from which I can sometimes look out at dusk and see them warily moving through the barren winter trees, and I am, I suppose, doing what they are doing, making myself possible and those who come after me. At such moments I do not know whose land this is that I own, or whose bed I sleep in. In the darkness out there they see my light and pause, muzzles lifted, wondering who I am and what I am doing here in this cabin under my light. I am a mystery to them until they tire of it and move on, but the truth, the first truth probably, is that we are all connected, watching one another. Even the trees.

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Hmm, looks like I ended up on winter after all (some habits aren't easily broken).

Shivers and Somnolence

Brrr it's cold today. I'm not accusing my parents of skimping insulation when the house was being built, but my room is especially chilly. One of us doesn't seem to mind though...

Ronald was happily snoozing away when I woke up. I've been giving him little bites of my tuna sandwiches lately, bread and all. He loves it. We also went on our first trip into the great outdoors yesterday. Alright, so maybe it was the backyard, but he explored like it was a jungle all the same. I kept thinking he was going for the fence the whole time, but he stayed within reach. What's that? Another picture of Ronald? Okay sure...

This crazy weather is doing a number on my allergies, which I was talking about with Robin the other day. Do you think allergy symptoms and sufferers have greatly increased since the Imperial Age? I'm willing to place my bets on yes. Another place I'm willing to place my bets is on the success of IKEA in Round Rock. That place isn't a store, it's a themepark complete with 50 cent hotdogs and 75 cent coffees (which makes it better than Six Flags, which doesn't sell a Coke for under 12.50). My mom, Katie, and I went yesterday. The great part about it is that you know you're going there just to get cheap but good looking "starting out" stuff. Because of this mindset, it escapes the accused simony of a place like Pottery Barn, where you go to get new, expensive emulations of vintage furniture. Not that I personally say that about Pottery Barn; if I were ever to buy expensive things other than comic books and video games it could very well be at Pottery Barn. Okay that's all I have to say today; this blog was mainly an excuse to post pictures of Ron. Have a good rest of the weekend everyone.

113 days to Africa and counting (every day),
Clay

et une decision

First off, anytime I write in French (or any other language) I won't be writing accents. A) I have no idea how to do it on anything else than microsoft word, and B) I'm lazy - I offer any linguaphile reading this my humblest apologies. Now on to Africa. When we think of the continent, we probably think of safaris, wild animals, Swahili, and beautiful surroundings. On that note, I had the chance to choose Kenya as my new destination following the Guinea mishap. My other choice was Burkina Faso, an extremely poor and landlocked country sitting on the Sahel, a place where the night rarely brings temperatures below 90 degrees. It's important to put this in its proper context: my mind still echoes thoughts of Guinea, the beautiful coastal country filled with rainforests and waterfalls. Of course I would choose Kenya, right? Nope, I picked Burkina Faso for a few different reasons.

1) French is spoken in Burkina, as well as over 50 local languages (English is one of the languages spoken in Kenya).

2) My job description in Burkina, Girls Empowerment and Education, is a much better fit than the one offered in Kenya. The program is a relatively new one in Burkina, and I feel I'll have a better chance of doing the most good.

3) In the long run, the job is what matters most. After talking with Robin and Erin (someone I've never met but was assigned to Guinea with me), I understood this. How many days a week am I going to go on safari and take pictures of wild animals? Maybe one or two at best. How many days a week will I be going to work? Five or more. A good job is what matters most.

Every day I'm getting more and more excited about Burkina. Should I have given up on the Peace Corps and followed some other plan (like getting to grad school a little earlier)? Not really, Peace Corps is my plan, something I've wanted to do for years. I guess I could just make travel a priority throughout my life and forgo the PC, but I don't want to travel. I want to be a part of a place and expand and define my meaning of the word "home".

At any rate, I'll be around until June 4th. My sister just got a job today in San Antonio (congratulations!), and it'll be awesome helping her move in and bothering her with lots of phonecalls while she's in a professional environment. We're all sad to see Maggie leave at such a young age, but it really is too good of a job to finish middle school for. Just kidding, of course Katie's the one leaving.

If you want to find any information about Burkina Faso, just type its name into Google and you'll find all kinds of pictures and websites. Something I can tell you here is that Burkina ranks 174 out of 177 countries in the latest HDI (an index measuring life expectancy, standard of living, education, etc). Sadly, the average age expectancy is around 47 years. Sobering.

Good luck to everyone during the spring semester; I wish you the best.

These days

I was working on the top of a roof with my dad when my phone rang. After a couple of days of waiting in limbo to hear if I even had a new assignment, it was finally the PC, wanting to talk about (2) new options. After going over them for just a few minutes on the phone our conversation ended, and now another decision needs to be made. I won't go over the details, but with either choice I'll still be in Pflugerville/Austin for the next 4 months. At least I have options again; two days of standing still is more difficult than months of waiting. So it's back to unpacking, making a room that I think is both mine and my sister's feel like a decent bedroom, and getting a job. The last few months haven't been a complete waste though. In fact, most of it has been pretty great. Here are a few pictures since Christmas...

Ronald Weasley LaPoint - our new roommate

The Davii and Phil setting up their tent amongst the woods in Bastrop State Park

A group picture before the Tired Stallions get lost in the woods.

Myself, sunburned and laughing

And finally...

Another picture of Ron

I'll finish up making my decision about the Peace Corps and accept one of the invitations tomorrow. Just a hint though: I'm pretty sure the name of the place I'll be going rhymes with Burkina Blaso. Other than that, the weather has been beautiful this weekend, and makes a nice accompaniment to some Beach Boys. Now if I could find something emollient for my sunburn...

Sorry

Phone call today from Washington P.C.
The program is cancelled because of the strike.
There's a chance I could get reassigned within the next month or two to another country, I'll know more tomorrow.
Disappointing.
Thanks to everyone for your support the last few months,
Clay