July 31, 2007

It's been a long time, too long actually. Since getting back a couple months ago I've gotten out of my "travel" routine which used to include lots of emails and frequent blog updates. But it comes with adapting to life over here. Luckily I've been keeping busy looking for jobs, schools and old friends to hang out with. It's funny how people change (or don't change) after I haven't seen them for so long. Some get married, have kids, gain weight, lose hair, gain hair, move on, stay put and do all the little interesting things that they find completely mundane. Of course to me all these "mundane" things are still as novel as ever, although I am starting to take running water for granted (damn). Luckily I still get a thrill out of seeing a gas stove light up.

For all you returning Peace Corps volunteers, don't expect any special treatment from Americans when you get home. I don't know how you're "readjustment" session in the COS conference but it's been pretty accurate for me. "Storian" is non-existent here, unfortunately. Maybe it's the lack of kava, the lack of aelan mommas making bunia, or the lack of fres win but laef i difren lelabet . Either way people don't know where Vanuatu is and spend about 15 seconds being genuinely interested in what you have to say before talking about politics or their dog. Not that I have anything against dogs at all. Oh, and if someone is talking about their dog don't mention that you're eaten dog before. Or that you really liked it. Or that it tastes like pork and chicken. They get all defensive like you're going to take their dog and eat it right in front of them. I never understood that really. I guess it's like being nervous around a cannibal, which doesn't make that much sense to me either.

I just got a cell phone this month and it's pretty cool. It can't get clips from the Daily Show or South Park like my brother's phone can but I can make and receive calls. Unfortunately since I haven't had a phone for so long I still tend to leave it at home, or in a room that I'm not in. I get to participate in my own 50m obstacle course whenever it rings, making a mad dash over furniture and around walls to try to locate it, then have to inevitably dig through a pile of clothes or papers to find it at the bottom. But it keeps me in touch (or on call, however you perceive it). If you want me to go through the next obstacle course, the number's (858) 531-8271. I haven't even started doing text messaging since it still kind of scares me and seems like the least amount of effort one can do to communicate. Then again, it takes so long to input each letter.

Since I spend a lot of time around the house and not wandering museums, dodging molten lava or killing edible animals, I've taken up running again. It's a great way to watch the rabbits running around at the local park, say 'hi' to all the dogs (determine whether or not they'd make good coats) and work on lowering my cholesterol which seemed to spike shortly after I got back home. I guess cooking with all that bacon fat and coconut milk isn't really that good for you after all. Now instead of making decadent, indulgent food I've gone back to what people in the Midwest call "That crazy California food" like tofu stir fry and roasted bell peppers. I didn't even realize how "Californian" I am until I started talking to my friend from Ohio about a certain kind of vanilla soy milk I enjoy with my organic cereal .

Of course amidst all the domestic pandering I've managed to get out and do a few touristy things. I inadvertently started following a band called "Red Pony Clock"(a 13 piece band complete with vibes and accordion), hanging out with an old theater friend (who believes he is Santa Claus) and enjoying all the local haunts of San Diego. I also took a stroll around Balboa Park, one of my favorite places in San Diego, where they have lots of museums and a botanical garden. Ok, so it's not Museumplein but has some works by Dutch painters. I also made it to our famous zoo where I managed to tear myself away from the binturongs (I want one) long enough to see the tigers, okapi and PNG pigeons (which we used to eat in Vanuatu).


The highlight so far has probably been spending time with Amanda, a girl I went to high school with and is now in Peace Corps Vanuatu. She came back for a couple weeks and we got together to practice Bislama and discuss all things Vanuatu: the food, the people, the school system, funerals, weddings (which are just as sad as funerals), other volunteers and the supreme courthouse that was recently burned, it even made it to the national terrorism page. And yes, that's kava we're drinking.

In some kind of anti-denoument, I discovered that my family had kept all the kava I sent home. Needless to say Amanda and I had a few shells and basked in the euphoric apathy that followed. I even made kava bowls out of coconuts I bought at the supermarket. After all my travels looking for kava (and discovering it's illegal in Singapore) it turned out to be right here (and growing at the San Diego County Fair).

How appropriate. I made a gift package for Amanda before she left and I started to get excited about it. I gave her all the things that I could have really used while in Vanuatu like strong plastic bags, instant pudding, magazines, gum and blank CD's. The only thing I was missing was quality dark chocolate in an airtight container but it's better than nothing. And the pudding was chocolate anyway.

I had a big surprise last week after mentioning to my friend that I wanted to go to Comic Con, one of the biggest media events on the west coast. What started off in the 70's as a bunch of nerds hanging out in a hotel basement is now an international affair where new movies are previewed, casts answer questions from fanboys (or fangirls), and people get dressed up in all manner of costumes ranging from simple eye makeup to complete cosplay antics. Anyway, I was asked by one of my acting friends if I wanted to take part in Comic Con by dressing up as an evil clown and terrorize innocent bystanders as part of a viral marketing campaign to promote the new batman movie. Did I want to help out? Heck yes! Following a secretive after-hours meeting and about 100 grams of grease makeup I was ready. But what was I ready for? The people in charge had been so secretive about everything we really didn't know exactly what we would be doing until the day of the event. We got it figured out in time to walk out of the Hyatt dressed up as the Joker's goons, ready to berate the convention goers and hand out clue-filled balloons. We looked like a circus version of the Reservoir Dogs and had a blast, insulting peoples' intelligence, making fun of Jedi's and handing out defaced 1$ bills. The funny thing is that even under our sweaty grease paint and business-casual attire we were some of the less freaky cosplayers present. Staff took lots of pictures, including some of me which were posted on www.whysoserious.com but the website has changed and I'm not longer up there in all my clown glory.

But we all looked like this


Oh hey, look what I found.

Unfortunately we didn't get to go into Comic Con itself since it was sold out and we were working outside but there's always next year. And the year after that. And the year after that and the year . . .

I wish the rest of my time here could be so eventful but unfortunately, we can't all be evil clowns all the time. I mean we can, but then we have to join the circus and learn to juggle.








Ah, Versailles.
No transition, just like the picture.