Funnyquote Friday

In Palmetto Point, the next village over from where I live, there is a nice little down home grill on the side of the road which a family runs on Friday nights for a little supplementary income.  I was there a few weeks back, enjoying some barbecued ribs and beers with friends, when one of the patrons stepped over to our table and introduced himself.  He was clearly a little less inhibited, and possibly did not understand what we meant when we were Peace Corps Volunteers.  Whatever the reason, when we were leaving to walk up the hill to my fellow PCV's apartment, he said,

"Good night! Drive safely!"

For those readers who don't get the joke, it's not only that none of us had taken a car down to the grill in question, the irony was mostly borne of the fact that as Peace Corps Volunteers, the lot of us are not allowed to drive.  At all!  During the full extent of our term of service, as long as we are on-island, we volunteers are not allowed to operate a motor vehicle of any kind, or accept a ride on a motorcycle or other non-enclosed vehicle.  To be caught in non-compliance with this restriction could, if the circumstances warrant it, result in administrative separation.  The reason for this stipulation is presumably the inability of the Peace Corps Agency to afford liability insurance for all 9000+ current volunteers, which seems reasonable enough.  The practical offshoot of this reality is, however, that I have made an occupation of relying on either public transportation or on the generosity of friends to provide me with a lift whenever I need to go anywhere that is farther than I am willing to walk.

Speaking of walking, I'm getting into this fitness thing – just finished week 1 of the Hundred Pushups Challenge, a 6 week workout regimen designed to train your body to do 100 pushups in one go.  This week alone was a challenge: today I did 51 pushups over 5 sets.  Next week begins with 5 sets totaling 60+ reps and ends with 80+ reps!  Add to this my daily run and sit-ups, and I'm actively combating (pun ostensibly intended) my otherwise sedentary lifestyle.  I'm trying to bring my time for 1 mile down to around 6 minutes – today I managed to set my personal best for the year at 7:02 minutes.  So things are looking up!  Anyway, I'm tracking all of my progress at Fitocracy - the premier online social networking site for people trying to stay fit - and you can too!  The program is currently in closed beta testing, so you need an invite from me (while supplies last!)

The newest Serious Ting has been officially released online; check it out when you get a chance.  As with the previous issue, I'm very proud of how it turned out, and I really like the HEART & SOUL theme that sorta happened on its own.  St. Kitts and Nevis was very well represented in this issue, too, offering 4 articles by 3 PCV authors and 2 contributions from a pair of host country nationals (not to mention yours truly).  The printed copies are expected in a few week's time, and I'll make sure and grab my fair share to spread around to each of my public circles.  Gotta spread the good word!

Also, I never did quite get the hang of networking.