NOTE: The views expressed herein are solely mine and do not represent the views or opinions of the U.S. Government, Peace Corps, or the Kingdom of Morocco.
Posted by shiite on Monday, March 25, 2013,
In :
peace corps
Beholden
to no one, the fearless mika (plastic bag) soars majestically, tossed
every which way, possibly the cheapest barometer known to man.
Its
flighty escapade comes to a halt as it intertwines with the branches of a
fallow apple tree.
Across
the field, a hand grabs the top edge of the transit’s side window and
pulls upward. Ali, the driver, wedges a screwdriver forcefully into the crevice
between the door and window - a simple yet sure fix to the woes of a 20-year
old tumobil.
Posted by shiite on Tuesday, January 1, 2013,
In :
peace corps
With a sharp intake of breath, I
muster up the superhuman courage reserved deep within to vacate the wholly
awesome (and awesomely holy) refuge of my -40°F rated North Face Dark Star
sleeping bag and two blankets.
I lumber to my feet, the cold air
greeting me with unsolicited rawness and familiarity. Despite burning firewood
with the furnace idgam (last night), the temperature has climbed back
down to an unfriendly 42°F.
Posted by shiite on Wednesday, November 7, 2012,
In :
peace corps
The tiflout [door] closes shut
behind me.
Promptly and without fail, a piercing
chorus of “Bassou! Bassou!” from neighbors rings out, reverberating
through the air.
I smile, wish them peace, and embark
on my tawada [walk]. As I stride
along the dirt road, not just the proverbial one, but five (yes, five) chickens
cross the road.
A grand symphony of nature
erupts: a donkey brays, a cow moos, and a rooster…cock-a-doodle-doos.
I walk further along the lgudron
[main road] and stare a... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Monday, September 24, 2012,
In :
morocco
I suppose I could say a lot of things here.
Like how my rural isolation makes it
difficult to get to a cyber café (if you like rickety old-fashioned
rollercoasters, you’ll love the “transit” van that travels 130km to the nearest
city to the east).
Or how I’ve been “busy” travelling – both back
home to the good ol’ US of A, to Europe, and within Morocco – and haven’t had
the time to sit down and write.
Or how I was
occupied/exhausted/asleep/hibernating for Ramadan.
Posted by shiite on Tuesday, May 29, 2012,
In :
morocco
If simplicity and brevity are indicators of sophistication, then I'm afraid I'm reached an all-time high level of sophistication...
Leonardo da Vinci's words, not mine. Here's a video of my attempting some Berber Proverbs (direct link here):
P.S. At some point, I will try to make a "MTV Cribs, Peace Corps Morocco Edition" video...also, I doubly apologize for the last two thoughtless and incomplete blog posts...I promise my next one, I will catch you up to speed and provide some commentary ... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Wednesday, April 25, 2012,
In :
peace corps
Azoul, hello.
Please
pardon my perfunctory post at the present; I have not had the time to write a
proper post, though enough time has passed that it behooves me to make an
update while the internet is still within reach.
The
last month has been busy – I did some health lessons at my elementary school; helped
out with a charity event where used clothes, among many other things, were
donated to my village; and worked, taught English, and played many
sports/activities with children at a Spri...
Posted by shiite on Thursday, March 22, 2012,
In :
morocco
I’m
not sure if I’m being brave for doing this, but I’m afraid that I haven’t
necessarily been telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth
(so help me God) here in my blog.
I’ve
been avoiding some unpleasant truths, sidestepping some harsh realities of life
here: I’ve been doing some editing, if you will – perhaps to paint a more
genteel, simplified, and inspiring picture of life as a Peace Corps volunteer,
or to prevent any pointed ugliness from spilling out ...
Posted by shiite on Saturday, February 25, 2012,
In :
morocco
For
now, suffice it to say I will let the video below do all the talking. And a few
pictures for good measure.
I
have a few more videos up my sleeve, and a post about the immense struggles (coupled
with the redeeming joys) of being a PCV (i.e. an attempt to capture the simultaneously ugly and beautiful aspects of Peace Corps service) is bubbling and brewing in the upper
register.
Ar mnb3d, enshallah… (Later, Allah/God willing).
That's all folks. Thanks for reading/listening/watching.
Posted by shiite on Monday, January 30, 2012,
In :
morocco
Oh,
the weather outside is frightful.
But
the lfurno, in all its blazing
glory, is delightful.
First it was the
frozen toothbrush.
Then went the
pipes.
Walu rubini
g lbit lma, Hašakum! (No
running water in the bathroom, pardon my impoliteness!)
And still
no running water in the bathroom (as of print), after about five days – must be
the open exposure/vulnerability to the wind, as the running water in the
kitchen returned after a day.
Posted by shiite on Monday, January 9, 2012,
In :
morocco
Whoever
first muttered, “A picture is worth a thousand words”, has my full-fledged and
undying gratitude and support.
Seeing
as how I’m not in the “writing mood” at the moment [i.e. the night before
heading to the cyber café for internet access, three hours away], let it
suffice to say that I hope the excess pictures in this post make up for the
lack of words.
Christmas was passed in the company of five
other PCVs, in a village about an hour outside Marrakesh. Afterwards, my frie... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Monday, December 19, 2011,
In :
peace corps
Left.
Right.
Left.
Right.
Time
marches right along, ever so precise in her movements – an infinite and
immeasurable precision that only the quickest of quartz oscillators can even
dream of emulating.
My
vacillating sensitivities notwithstanding, I hail from an electrical
engineering background (you can’t spell geek without “double-E”), where the
academia evil-powers-that-be forced us tuition-paying minions to constant
renditions and reiterations of SPICE simulations and MATLAB an...
Posted by shiite on Wednesday, September 28, 2011,
In :
peace corps
Hip to the hop.
And it just don’t stop.
Lean back.
Get low.
Throw your hands in the air like you just
don’t care.
…
So
much here in Morocco is imxalaf sg
Mirikan (different from America).
The dress (djellaba/tajlabit
[cloak], taHalamt [turban]).
The language (as I tell Imaziġen [Berbers], “Tamaziġt tga tHla bzzaf, iƐjbi, walakin
i nkkin tga tšqa imiH, ašku txdm dart n imi, lƐadalat tujdidin.” [Tamaziġt is
very nice, I enjoy it, but it is a little difficult for me, bec...
Posted by shiite on Friday, September 9, 2011,
In :
morocco
(Forewarning: this is a long post! …mostly I felt like there was a lot to talk about, and I wished to address
these “things to talk about” adequately and give them justice)
A new month.
A new moon.
A new regime.
The tail end of Ramadan has
passed.
Alongside this end comes (and came)
the beginning of much feasting, celebration, singing, dancing, clapping,
drumming…and relief, lHamdullah.
Four days of aHidous (dancing) were originally
planned in my solidly-Berber-mountain-village, ...
Posted by shiite on Thursday, August 11, 2011,
In :
peace corps
(Prescript: if you're an incoming Peace Corps Trainee to Morocco this coming September, and don't want to wade through all the rambling and want to get to the "good stuff", a.k.a. an updated packing list for Peace Corps Morocco, skip to the bottom. My heart will not be dismayed.) 'Tis been 'bout 149 days now in lmghrib (Morocco), if I have my rryadiat (math) correct.
[Considering that I spent the better majority of my college years closely snuggled up with The Calculus, hopefully my math has... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Saturday, July 23, 2011,
In :
morocco
Quick post. Breakfast soon, then heading off back to my site, enshalleh. We Peace Corps Volunteers number about 55 now, out of an initial 60 incoming Peace Corps Trainees.
A "PPST" (Post-Pre-Service-Training) was just finished up. It was five days of language tutoring, technical training, and administrate updates. The almost week-long training was held in Azrou, which is quite different from the rural countryside of Morocco - it feels quite European, with a bit of diversified flair to the build... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Friday, July 15, 2011,
In :
peace corps
After swearing in as an official PCV (oh the memories) and being sent to my final site (oh the anxiety), I was forced to ask around for housing for rent.
After asking possibly a baker's dozen of mddn [people] (and by that, I of course mean men) if there was housing available, I was able to look at rb3a n taddart i kru (four houses for rent).
House #1: an old, somewhat run-down house that belonged to the brother of the person who showed me the house (he is a professor/teacher in a city). Somet... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Saturday, June 11, 2011,
In :
morocco
About 15 days have I now stared down and conquered.
...Not that I am on a gluttonous conquest or anything (or am I), but it's nice (should I say gratifying?) to feel a sense of accomplishment, particularly when headed and bucked with a notably immense task of integrating into a new community to whom "Peace Corps" ("hay'at salaam") rings as hollow as a dollar-store recorder.
Nonetheless, let the "integration" begin.
And happily so, for my first dozen or so days in my final site has gone by ... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Thursday, May 26, 2011,
In :
morocco
Alright, I was able to render the video and upload to YouTube. Here's my speech from yesterday, given in Tamazight. Hope you enjoy:
Also, a quick note to my readers: there is no internet access at my final site, but I will be able to access internet maybe two times a month or so, when I go to my souk town (I live in a small douar [village] where you can only get yogurt and very basic goods; one must go to the nearest "souk" [market] town, where one can buy fruit and vegetables). At my souk to... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Wednesday, May 25, 2011,
In :
morocco
Seventy-two days.
It's been seventy-two days here in Morocco, learning Tamazight (for others, Tashlheit or Darija) and the nuances of Moroccan culture. Some days were better than others...necessarily implying [for those of us concerned about mathematical justice and equality] that some days were also worse than others (whether marked by a stroke of illness [to put it nicely], or being told one knows zero language...yes, even to me).
But all in all, when one reads the scale, the good outweighs ... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Sunday, May 22, 2011,
In :
language
Waxxa (OK). Community-based training (CBT) is safi (finished), and all of us PCTs find ourselves on the cusp of taking the hard-worked-for leap towards official Peace Corps Volunteer status.
In but three days I will be Basu, PCV. (I don't know if I mentioned this, but in my final site, I am called Basu, and not Brahim. Father's words, not mine. Kan labas ur illi [no problem]) How's that for a business card. Zwinn, oho? (excellent, no?)
So, I'll try to keep this one on the short(er) side.
Posted by shiite on Tuesday, May 10, 2011,
In :
morocco
Matta wyna? (what's up?)
(as a joke, one should reply: mashi shughnk! [none of your business!]) I find myself back at HUB mnb3d taqribansin simana (after about two weeks) at CBT. Gan ghas sin simana zid; mnb3d nkkin ad tsffart g nghar nna ad qqimgh d xdmgh sin isuggasen, enshalleh. (There is only two more weeks to go; afterwards I will travel to the place where I will stay and work two years, God willing.)
So I have two more days here at HUB (with the wondrous amenities that are internet ac... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Sunday, April 24, 2011,
In :
morocco
Yallah. (Let's start).
So my final site and I met each other OK, lHamdullah (thank God)...walakin (but) not until larb3 (Wednesday). Monday night I spent the night in the nearest big town from my site (100 km) and then Tuesday night I found myself at my PCV escort's house, which is in my souk town (45 minutes away).
Not until Wednesday morning did I arrive at my lovely final site.
Let me tell you about my new host father/grandfather, who is a subsistence farmer.
Posted by shiite on Saturday, April 16, 2011,
In :
morocco
Here we go.
I know I said that last time, when we left for CBT, but this time, I'm like, for real.
Today afternoon during training all of us lovely PCT's (if you don't know what all these acronyms mean, you need to reference previous posts, samHi [sorry]) discovered what our "permanent sites" are.
The place where we will stay for two years, enshalleh [God willing]. The place where we will all xdm [work] and l3b [play].
The place where we will all develop meaningful and hopefully lasting projects,... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Wednesday, April 6, 2011,
In :
morocco
Mayd t3nit? (how are you?) T'henna? (is it fine?) Labas ghuri, lHamdullah (I have peace, thanks be to God).
...Back at tha' hotel. We be takin' hot showers here. Life is good in the H-double-O-D.
Besides writing in an English form that would near-guarantee offend the senses of the highfalutin, I'll recap the last two weeks or so with memorable moments (that is, of what little I can remember). Please do send your regards to the Joint Photographic Experts Group if you enjoy the pictures.
Posted by shiite on Thursday, March 24, 2011,
In :
morocco
Not up to a full-on post, but here are some more pictures, which as the maxim goes, are worth a thousand words. As we say here in Morocco, this should be "safi" (enough).
(About the title: all of us PCTs have been given "Moroccan" names that are easier to pronounce. In my group, we have Jamal, Zizi, Najat, Amal...and Brahim, my Moroccan name. Aren't you jealous.)
Everything is pretty happenin'. Not just my mo-rockin' name, but my host family experience thus far. My host father is a dagger mak... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Sunday, March 20, 2011,
In :
morocco
Tomorrow it begins.
Not that it hasn't already begun, but it's just that...tomorrow is when things get a little more real, a little less comfortable, no pre-cooked buffets from the hotel, no shepherding to and fro. Tomorrow I go off on my own to live with my host family - with whom I will be living while I am training to become an official Peace Corps volunteer (PCV). We train in groups of five to six, with each group of PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees) set at a different site in Morocco (to give ... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Thursday, March 17, 2011,
In :
morocco
Quickly, here's some pictures I've downsized to really low quality: The "bungalow" of the hotel that I stay at just one more night (incredible):
Yes, it's beautiful. Yes, it's very "Posh Corps". I'm wondering when things will start to get a bit more "real" and I'll have my first cold shower or bucket shower and when I'll be using the Turkish toilet...
You know you're in a foreign country, when water bottles are kind of...in a different language?
Only have about 20 minutes to type this post out, so it won't have nearly the same level of scintillating wit that they normally have...err..
I wrote more details about my trip thus far in my journal, and will post some pictures and more later (perhaps)...I may not have great internet access over the coming weeks, especially as language training starts in about 4 days.
Getting to the hotel from the Philly airport was quite the (mis)adventure. I still got to the hotel early, but it was an enjoya... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Thursday, March 10, 2011,
In :
peace corps
The goods are packed; final packing list in Excel format here for those interested.
Library books and DVDs have been returned.
Gave my banks the "Oh hey, I'm going to be in Morocco for the next 27 months..." '411' rundown.
Said good-byes to family and some friends still in town.
Only three days remain to frolic about in the barren corn fields of Indiana!
After my last frolic, I will board a plane to Philly, where I will join 60+ other Peace Corps Trainees (PCTs) on the byzantine journey to... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Sunday, March 6, 2011,
In :
peace corps
After today, there will only be SEVEN days left remaining to gambol wistfully in the fields of the United States... I still don't feel very nervous at all. Just excited.
I take it this means one of two things:
1) My indomitable steely reserve and unflinching equanimity cannot be touched or... 2) The acuteness of this whole reality has not quite yet reached me, but once it does, it will hit me a brunt force to be reckoned with...terror (and perhaps some peeing of the bed) shall surely ensue... I ha... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Thursday, March 3, 2011,
In :
peace corps
Only 11 days separate me from my long-held dream of joining the Peace Corps of the United States of America. I couldn't be and have never been more excited about anything else in my entire life. Yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of the founding of Peace Corps: on March 1st, 1961, the U.S. Peace Corps was established by Executive Order 10924 under President John F. Kennedy. A lot of moving tributes have been made on this occasion, but this video tribute from the U.S. Embassy in London reall... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Monday, February 21, 2011,
In :
morocco
Yesterday, February 20th, protests were planned and held all throughout Morocco. Largely organized via Facebook, it is estimated by one source that nearly 40,000 Moroccans took to the streets in 57 towns and cities. The biggest demonstrations were held in the capital, Rabat, and Morocco's biggest city, Casablanca.
EPA: About 5,000 protesters march on parliament in Rabat. Turnout estimates in these cities widely vary among sources - in Rabat, for example, the Associated Press estimates the tur... Continue reading ...
No matter how you slice or dice it, Morocco is closing in on the horizon.
It's so close.
I can smell it.
Taste it.
(Don't tell anyone: this may be partially [or quite possibly fully] on account of my eating this and washing my hair daily with this. Shhhh.)
...Yet another email from Peace Corps Morocco today. Things seem to be full steam ahead. Oy vey! With but one month left to go, there's still lots of hard work to do, but I've also accomplished qui... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Wednesday, February 9, 2011,
In :
morocco
Things are looking good.
Or as comedian Larry David would say, "Pretty...pretty....*pretty* good."
My fellow Peace Corps compatriots and I have now received two emails from our Peace Corps Morocco "parental unit" - the first a general welcome email, the other having language and home stay questionnaires to fill out.
Any day now, we should receive word that all systems are a go and plane ticket reservations shall commence.
Despite the uncertainty and unrest revolving around Egypt and Tunisia, I ... Continue reading ...
The so-called Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia caught everyone by surprise - its former ruler France, the U.S., and the world at large. Is it true that diplomats and intelligence agencies often (or only) tell ministers what they want to hear?
What role has the controversial WikiLeaks had on the current Arab revolution?
What effect will the Tunisian experience have on Morocco? Is Morocco an exception to the rule? What country will be the next domino to fall?
Posted by shiite on Tuesday, February 1, 2011,
In :
random
Some people have a way with words; others... ... ... ...not...have way, I guess. - Steve Martin
Hokay, I will do my darndest to make this post short (though my parenthetical remarks may make this difficult).
In but forty days I begin Staging for the Peace Corps (!) and in 42 days, I will be in Morocco, inshallah.
I did some research on the fatality of scorpion stings in Morocco (research papers here, here, and here). The journal articles say: "Stings were mainly observed between May and Sep...
Posted by shiite on Thursday, January 27, 2011,
In :
religion
"If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children." - Mohandas Gandhi
Deeply moving.
Deeply affecting.
For those who can admit to themselves that they have little to no understanding of the conflict between Arabs and Jews in Jerusalem, the documentary "Promises" is an absolute must-see.
Actually, let me revise that: it is a must-see for anyone and everyone.
“Every body persists in its state of being at rest or of moving uniformly straight forward, except insofar as it is compelled to change its state by force impressed.”
As a consequence:
• An object that is at rest will stay at rest unless an unbalanced force acts upon it • An object that is in motion will not change its vel... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Saturday, January 15, 2011,
In :
language
"Morocco is like a tree nourished by roots deep in the soils of Africa which breathes through foliage rustling to the winds of Europe." - King Hassan II, King of Morocco 1961-1999
Slowly but surely (and don't call me Shirley)... The impartial but resolute countdown timer to oh-yes-that's-right-here-a-comes-Peace-Corps-Staging continues.
Folks, we've hit the two month mark.
A momentous occasion fit for the grandest of grand celebrations, ja? (If you're in the gift-giving mood, I am kindly accepti... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Saturday, January 1, 2011,
In :
information
"Unlike most resources that become depleted when used, information and knowledge can be shared, and actually grow through application."
Save for possibly Jessica Alba and/or Natalie Portman, there's nothing more beautiful in this world than informationand the empowerment to make better and more informed decisions that it engenders.
Information technology like the internet has not only broken down geographical barriers - helping diffuse knowledge to potential users all across the world, at th... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Saturday, December 18, 2010,
In :
morocco
"I take issue with this notion that leaving the conventional path to follow some personal dreams and adventures is somehow a 'year off.' Doing something you've always wanted to do is actually a 'year on'. And I think many people who are brave enough to start doing it for a year, end up leading a 'life on' instead of a 'life off'. This is not 'delaying' the path. This is the path. This IS the real world." - Cross-country biker Carl Shepherd
Posted by shiite on Wednesday, December 1, 2010,
In :
morocco
"I don't want to be an armchair patriot who has never had to commit, to give, to sacrifice anything and who sits back complaining about the world without making an attempt to help it."
Morocco and I are getting along quite swimmingly as of late.
More and more am I realizing that the two of use could probably make quite the team...
Posted by shiite on Thursday, November 25, 2010,
In :
random
"One of the great undiscovered joys of life comes from doing everything one attempts to the best of one's ability. There is a special sense of satisfaction, a pride in surveying such a work, a work which is rounded, full, exact, complete in its parts, which the superficial person who leaves his or her work in a slovenly, slipshod, half-finished condition, can never know. It is this conscientious completeness which turns any work into art. The smallest task, well done, becomes a miracle of ach... Continue reading ...
The disappointment has been tempered and softened with the passed time, but it still makes me a tad (or tid...your choice) bit sad to think that I could be in Lesotho at this very moment.
Applying to Peace Corps, for me, has been something akin to this: telling the most beautiful woman of you... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Thursday, November 11, 2010,
In :
politics
I am an unapologetic liberal. I am a Democrat. It's never been a mystery to me. I do not have any doubts, misapprehensions, or hesitations otherwise.
For me, my political ideology is a function of how I feel the world can or should be improved and how people - all people - deserve to be treated, and not my upbringing or the political stripes of family members (a quick tally of my most immediate family members would yield one Independent and two staunch Republicans).
Posted by shiite on Wednesday, October 27, 2010,
In :
peace corps
"Hope had been his enemy, a frailty that he must at all costs master, for so long now that it was a moment before he was willing to concede that he had let it back into his heart." -'A Confederacy of Dunces'
Oh it hurts.
It's like having your newly-made friend (whom you had just begun to trust and accept) carelessly and callously push you down the jagged and wayward mountain that you had worked so hard to climb (spending over a year doing so, with many stumbles along the way)...
Posted by shiite on Thursday, October 14, 2010,
In :
peace corps
NOTE: This was written maybe a week ago, before my invitation for Lesotho was cancelled 20 days before Staging (!!, to be discussed in the near future). “Um, I don’t know (said with nice inflection), I think I’ve always been interested in joining the Peace Corps ever since being a junior or senior in high school.”
“I always thought it would be neat to travel to another part of the world and live there for two years and really be able to integrate with a community.”
Posted by shiite on Thursday, October 7, 2010,
In :
peace corps
Oh, how the time does fly! (when you're having fun?)
It's 24 days now until I fly on over to Philly for "Staging" (Pre-Orientation) on November 1st. As mentioned here, a couple days of ago I called SATO Travel (the travel agency that PC works with) and reserved my plane tickets to get to Philly.
Here's my action-packed schedule/itinerary:
November 1, 6am: flight from Indianapolis to Washington, DC (1hr, 35min) November 1, 8:21am: flight from DC to Philly (58min) Arrive in Philly around 9:30am Novem... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Tuesday, October 5, 2010,
In :
peace corps
The application to Peace Corps for me was one of the most trying and frustrating things I've had to go through.
My specific experience may very well be (highly) unique, but I was not expecting for the process to take as long as it did (I was expecting to know my assignment within 6-8 months). There were two slight complications while I was applying: one, I was wearing braces and was expecting to have jaw surgery over Christmas Break 2009 (Peace Corps does not allow you to leave until braces ... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Friday, October 1, 2010,
In :
peace corps
The countdown towards Lesotho has begun! Less than five weeks 'til departure now.
It feels somewhat surreal and bizarre that it's only been ten days since I officially accepted my invitation to serve as Peace Corps volunteer (a.k.a. PCV). This, more or less, because I feel like I have been scrambling like some sort of mad man (as if I weren't one already) to figure out what I need to buy online. The anxiety of only having five weeks to pack for two years of your life is only compounded by the ... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Saturday, September 25, 2010,
In :
peace corps
Last couple days I've been trying not to let stress completely overwhelm me, but it would not be accurate to say it has not gotten the better half of me...
I submitted my application for a no-fee U.S. Government passport (required of all PCV's, regardless of whether you have a personal passport) along with two new passport photos in the pre-paid UPS next-day air envelope included in the Invitation Kit, looked over most of the remaining paperwork (which really isn't all that bad, but paperwork ... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Tuesday, September 21, 2010,
In :
peace corps
Lesotho! Today in the evening, I was at a Journal Club meeting for my research group and was walking back towards my truck around 5:30pm, when my dad called me and told me that UPS had dropped off my Peace Corps invitation in the mail! I drove home in a mad rush, trying not to let giddiness lead to *speeding ticket*, opened the front door and promptly opened the UPS package. Inside, it read (as expected) that I am going to Lesotho! I will leave Nov. 2, 2010, and my two-year service period is ... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Thursday, September 16, 2010,
In :
peace corps
So, The Day That I Thought Would Never Arrive...has arrived! Around 12pm, today, September 16th, 2010, I received the best phone call I have ever received: my PC placement officer told me that my invitation to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer is now in the mail and should arrive in a couple days! I have been invited to serve as a Science Teacher, instead of a Math Teacher (as originally nominated), based off of I suppose greater need in science (?), my background in science, and experience as... Continue reading ...
I created the quiz because after perusing the raw population data, I realized I had/have a lot of misconceptions about countries and their populations. Tell us what score you got!
Posted by shiite on Friday, July 23, 2010,
In :
school
So, somewhat randomly, I wanted to investigate the "diversity" of Purdue. I came across this website: http://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/pages/students/stu_int_country.htm , which lists the number of international students from each country. Not surprisingly, China (24.2% of all international students), India (22.9% of all international students), and "Republic of Korea" (13.9% of all international students) lead the way for international students' backgrounds. [If you're wondering, Taiwan (4... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Thursday, July 22, 2010,
In :
random
I like to watch stand-up comedy (word up) - mostly on Comedy Central - and decided to compile a list of my most memorable stand-up routines...you know like the ones that are like, "zomg ROFL funny"!!
So, without any particular order, here's a few that come to mind:
Sinbad's "Where U Been" - has got to be top 5 of all time, and he hardly even uses profanity to make his point. I find that I enjoy situational humor the most, and he is pretty damn good at it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF3vn9dc...
Posted by shiite on Saturday, May 8, 2010,
In :
school
I just had my final Final of college the other day and I'm not quite sure whether I'm sad or excited to be over and done with college. This semester went by so fast (!) and hopefully before I know it I'll be off in another continent, serving in the Peace Corps for 27 months. I am supposed to hear back by "early May" regarding my placement, so I'm hoping I'll hear back this week. Serving in the Peace Corps has been a "dream" of mine ever since I became "such-a-fuckin'-hipster" (some would say ... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Saturday, May 8, 2010,
In :
random
I broke out in tears when I first listened to this audio clip. I showed it to my roommate, who didn't find it quite as funny, so maybe I have an overly mathematical/nerdy sense of humor...I thought it was cute.
Posted by shiite on Friday, May 7, 2010,
In :
religion
NOTE: If you are religious, you may want to close your eyes...
Written April 27, 2010:
The Invisible Pink Unicorn (Behold
Her Pinkness That Defies All Description!) hath shown herself unto me and
revealed her True and Holy Works (doubt it not!). Unto I, Saint Scheidtster the
long-winded and most unworthy, She clearly stated (my earplugs were out): “Verily,
let it be said: the LGBTQ community is, like OMG, A-OK, ok?” As it was written
by the prophet Gangsta (Jib. 1:99, not to be confused wit... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Thursday, May 6, 2010,
In :
poetry
This one goes out to all the Computer Engineering fellas out there...oh yeah...
"I can ray trace you an empire, Or mesh you a sea, I can voxel a mountain, Or a servant on its knee. Oh sweet lady let us run together On the grid of x,y,z. My lexical analyzer screams at my soul, I've never seen anything more lovely. I've seen no class in OOP that can hold, One so truly holy. Your tenderness is like a UNIX script, Your voice like a high quality mp3, And when you glance my way, You seg fault my memory. To my hea... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Thursday, May 6, 2010,
In :
poetry
I came across this poem a while ago and it brought quite the smile to my face: "They integrated from the very point of origin. Her curves were continuous, and even though he was odd, he was a real number. The day their lines first intersected, they became an ordered pair. From then on it was a continuous function. They were both in their prime, so in next to no time they were horizontal and parallel. She was awed by the magnitude of his perpendicular line, and he was amazed by her conical pr... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Thursday, May 6, 2010,
In :
health care
NOTE: this was written before the Health Care Reform passed.
Insurance
companies have spent over $180 million to defeat health care reform and in the
process tried to convince the American public that reform will actually harm
them. The current health care bills being debated will reduce the deficit long
term (CBO); limit out of pocket costs, giving Americans real health security
and peace of mind; require insurance companies to spend more of their premium
dollars they collect on actual patien...
Llah y3awn, salaam 3laykum! I am serving as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in the Eastern High Atlas region of Morocco from March 2011 - May 2013, inshallah...
Please subscribe by email below if you would like to follow along on the whirlwind of adventure, challenge and humor that awaits!
To receive email notices of new blog entries, enter your email address below and click the button, yo:
As an alternative, click below to subscribe through a RSS Reader (see options):
Llah y3awn, salaam 3laykum! I am serving as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in the Eastern High Atlas region of Morocco from March 2011 - May 2013, inshallah...
Please subscribe by email below if you would like to follow along on the whirlwind of adventure, challenge and humor that awaits!
