Dirty soles

I hit the road after the practice GRE this morning, which did not go so well as I would have liked but, I am very glad that I have done it. I know better now where I need to focus my study. There is a package waiting at customs for me and today is really the only that I have a chance to get to it, so I am off!

I have shared before my adventures finding this mystical place in which packages from the U.S. disappear. I put on some Jimmy Eat World (kind of my parcel retrieval soundtrack) and started out at a pretty good clip toward the Great North Road. I did the calculation on Google Maps and it looks like the trip is about 5.6 miles or 9km each way. I am glad that I came from the monster A&M campus and that walking does not bother me so much.

From the eye of the observer.

I had lots of time to think and look around as I was making this little trek. Got to thinking about how much stuff I have seen while I have been here. I was trying to weigh what I am experiencing here versus what I might be looking at in the States. There is just no way around the fact that getting to be over here is an amazing ride. Even though there are lots of times I wish that I had someone to share all of this with I would not trade it. And I do get to share it all with you, my wonderful friends and family.

I looked down a side road and saw the sturdy jacaranda trees beginning to bloom with thousands of purple flowers. I get to smile and wave at the munchkins and they giggle and say as if it were one word, how are you? The people just stare at me as I walk down the dusty roads. A few get the boldness to say hello (likely drunk, haha) or wave. It feels so strange to be an attraction due only to the color of my skin... Usually I have to perform some impressive wit (extraordinarily rare) to get even twenty percent this response.

Somewhere above I veered hard from the conclusion of my parcel mission. I was able to hand the woman behind the counter a tracking number and she scooted toward the back and went out the door to return a few minutes later with nothing. I got a touch nervous but, it turns out that my box was just in the front area with a few others. Again, word that some Brad Pitt looking fella was heading toward the post office to pick something up, ha. I paid six and a half pen (a little over a buck) and left the building with my prize in my pack.

I do not have to open it in front of them unless it is an express package I guess as they did not require that I open it in front of them this time. It might also be that they remembered me well from last time. The lady behind the counter smiled and asked, you are here for another package? Yes, I am!

Thank you for all my neat stuff, Ma and Pa! In my package I got some hand sanitizer, jerky (delish), q-tips, a razor, the always great deodorant, and I neat clock/radio/alarm. There was however an unfortunate incident involving the radio. The problem with things from the states is that they are designed to function with a 120V source, the 240V and my super cool clock did not end up getting along so well. I was setting the time and a with a pretty good pop, flash and whiff of ozone my clock it is no more :(

After a few minutes laying on my bed pondering about the distance that I just hiked, I hopped back up and headed for Manda Hill. I cruised into Shoprite and picked up a few things. I got into a conversation with the ladies that were checking me out. They wanted to know where I was from and how they could get to the U.S. I joked with them for a bit, in the end they wanted my number and email address. What can I do? So I laughed and said that I would be here for a while and that I would see them again. I will probably get one of those ridiculous, do you remember my name questions next time I am in there but, a least I made it out mostly anonymous this time. I packed my items in my pack and made the short two block jaunt over to Mike and Lyndie's where I met Kahler and Katy.

There were several folks that I had not met before that joined us for dinner. Adrianna, Claire and Sarah joined us at the makeshift, elongated table. The boys (Mike, Dwayne, Kahler and myself) were at one end trading hunting stories. None of our stories can hold a candle to what these men have done. I mean they are really legit! From snakes that roll like wagon wheels, mambas and foot long scorpions to barehanded bear fighting and  defending the camp from lions. I am probably going to claim some of their stories as my own when I get back. Remind me to tell you the one about when I got hit in the eye by a spitting cobra.

Looking forward to this next week. Going to be great setting things in place and beginning the lab efficiency and morale initiative. I am going to get some sleep, this week is going to be a long one working all day, meeting with lab staff, and much more studying for this looming exam.

On-call duties can suck it, I made it through! I hand that stupid phone and that ridiculous hunk of keys to Kahler in the morning, mhanamen.

All is up in the air