Funnyquote Friday

When interviewing secondary school students who had applied to join the A Ganar program starting this month, I got a lot of bland, run-of-the-mill responses to typical interview questions like "tell me about yourself," and "how do you see yourself in five years?"  This made the thoughtful and clever responses all the more enjoyable for me, since it tended to reveal a glimpse into the character of the interviewee in a way that 90% of the questions were unsuccessful in doing.  One question that tended to cajole the most peculiar answers was, "Think about your island country of St. Kitts and Nevis: what is one thing that you like about it?  What is one thing that, if you could, you would change about it?"  One particularly spirited girl had a unique response to this, saying that she loved everything about her country, from the beautiful landscapes to the knowledge that her family and friends were there with her.  She added, with a straight face,

"Now if only the White people would stop coming."

I was completely unable to suppress a chuckle at this.  Caught in the moment, I was hardly offended, but instead filled with mirth at the layers of irony in this statement.  I know, I thought, darn tourists crowding up our island, bringing their pasty, untanned legs, their sunglasses, and their silly money.  And then to have the vacancy of mind to say this right in front of me, sans malice or insinuation at all.  It was priceless!  I think she was my favorite student to interview.

I saw Mom and Dad off en route back home after spending a week-and-a-half here on my little island.  I'd say we managed to fit in 97% of everything I could even think of doing, and that with taking Thursday off after the volcano hike.  (Yes, you read that right - Mom and Dad get some GamersCorps points for scaling the tallest mountain in the entire country.  Kudos!) 

In fact, here was our itinerary - for posterity, but also so you can see what you could've been doing last week in the Eastern Caribbean:

  MONDAY

• Circumnavigate St. Christopher island
• Visit Caribelle Batik at Romney Manor
• Visit Fort George at Brimstone Hill
• See Black Rocks, Dieppe Bay
• Lunch at De Green Valley Pub, Cayon

  TUESDAY

• Walking tour of downtown Basseterre
• Visit Mr. Zach Nisbett's cultural heritage museum
• Walking tour of Port Zante and Amine Craft shops
• Lunch at Ms. Moore's (Saltfish fritters and bottomless Passion Fruit juice!)

  WEDNESDAY

• Hike Mt. Liamuiga (2:30 hours in this time)
• Lunch at Cooper's of Dieppe Bay

  THURSDAY

• Recuperate

FRIDAY

• Ferry to sister island Nevis
• Visit Horatio Nelson museum
• Circumnavigate Nevis island
• Lunch at Oualie Beach resort, snorkel and swim at the best beach in the federation
• Visit Chrishi beach for pictures and refreshments

  SATURDAY

• Run/Walk with Hash House Harriers, the international running club

  SUNDAY

• Visit St. George's Anglican Church
• Grill Jamaican Jerk Chicken for guests 

With just a handful of other notable excursions that followed, but the bulk of the trip's activities were handled in the first week.  From a planning standpoint, everything worked out perfectly - my parents were never overworked to the point that we had to go somewhere and they didn't have the energy, and we never ran out of time to fit something in that I felt was essential.  So I consider the visit a success!  And I know they had a really good time getting a feel for what life was like down here (life with trans, anyway!) and getting to meet all of the people that are involved in my day-to-day.  Bar none, I feel like everyone here was pleased to make the acquaintance of my parents as well, which came as a bit of a surprise to me - with so many people to meet, it's only typical that there is one or another awkward encounter to shrug off, but not this time, I think.

I'm using today to get back into a regular routine - and hoping that it is a quiet day to offer a soft lead-in to the weekend.  With no Serious Ting to work on anymore, I turn my attention anew to my job search.  Kicking off a few months later than anticipated (I originally planned to start in November), I have finally screwed up enough of my courage to hit the hunt hard this weekend.  Please pray that this motivation and steeled resolve doesn't wane in the face of insecurities borne of ambiguity and inevitable rejections.

My Fourth Top 11

Well, as of this post, I am in transit back to the States.  Since it will be difficult for me to post as frequently as usual (which lately, I confess, is really saying something), I thought I would send along this bonus Top 11.  I hope you enjoy reading it half twice as much as I did writing it, and maybe get a small enormous glimpse into my life at university.

The Top 11...

Things I (Really) Learned from Business School

11.   A penny saved is 0.998 of a penny earned.
10.   There's little shame in taking the M-train if it means leaving the station in one piece.
9.   When "Someday, I'll be their boss" is your mantra, you're trying to compensate for something.
8.   It doesn't matter if you're a big fish in a small bowl, or a small fish in a big tank: sooner or later, the food is going to get scarce.
7.   It's not the books you read, it's the books you're seen reading.
6.   If the market determines the price, then the cost of tuition must be a lagging indicator.
5.   Despite what they might say, nobody really cares if you know what NASDAQ stands for.
4.   The difference between happy fulfillment and hopeless despair is budget cuts.
3.   Classrooms built in the cold shadow of Wall Street save money on air conditioning.
2.   Specialization is the future.  I live in the past.

And the number 1 thing I learned from business school...
1.   If your professors were any good at social interaction, they would have stayed in business.


Happy Halloween, everyone!

Do They Have a 4th of July in SK?

Just another day here.  There were some fireworks at the OTI, but no plans for big celebrations apart from some volunteers heading down to the beach.  The policy is such that, as we are U.S. Government volunteers, we are allowed to request the 4th of July off as a home-national holiday – I just had no reason to ask off yesterday.  Instead I was happy to begin poring over the most recent course records of the NSTP in search of contact information useful in bolstering their client database that I prepared for them.

For my part, I am enjoying my first day of summer vacation with my first morning run in half a year, and by lounging in the sun (real tough here) for a couple hours.  I promised myself that, come the next visit to Hiawassee, I would actually have something to show for my time in the sun– (and thanks to the backlash from Arlene, water–) -drenched Caribbean.

I was invited by the primary school I volunteer at to attend their graduation proceedings next Tuesday.  The good news: a catered dinner precedes it, commanding EC$95.00 a head to non-faculty, but they waived my fee.  The bad news: the MLB All-Star Game is that evening, and I was looking forward to getting to see that this year.  /whine

My girlfriend got sick with a hacking cough this weekend, so I spent the better part of it trying to nurse her back to health.  At least she felt up to seeing the new X-Men film with me on Saturday night.  Conclusion: it really is the best one of the five, by a little bit.  Go see it for a cheesy action flick.

Getting Back

I'm fighting through a bout of sleep deprivation while composing this, but in the interest of trying to start afresh in June with more consistent posts, I'll make an attempt at coherence.

Well, it was a very pleasant trip back to the States. Getting to see everyone was refreshing and rewarding, and the wedding was a joy to behold; best wishes to Meagan and Ryan once again!  I had the pleasure of catching up with old friends from Hiawassee, as well as meeting some new people – in fact, the wedding party itself included a current Peace Corps Volunteer and a soon-to-be PCV.  I also got to see my Marietta friends on Friday night, and we went out for Mexican food and frozen yogurt.  The talk was as animated and technical as ever, much to my delight.  The offshoot of all these trips to Atlanta, however, is that it seemed like every other night I was returning home at 2 or 3 a.m.  I quickly got behind in sleep, and my schedule was further agitated when I had to get up at 5 a.m. on Tuesday to catch the outbound flight from ATL to MIA.  Hence the persistent drowsiness.

On an unrelated note, apparently the Prime Minister of SKN flies commercial.  There we were, boarding a plane at SKB, and who should join our number (presumably following an initial covert security sweep) but Dougie himself.  He took a seat up in business class, and naturally was the first one whisked away by golf cart upon arrival in Miami.   That's the Peace Corps way, you know: rubbing shoulders with foreign heads of state, and all before lunchtime.

I'll try to post a May highlights video if I can, but it will be later than usual (if at all) due to the very busy next two days.