The first thing I have been asked when I read this book was 'did you like it?' and the answer is surprisingly not that simple.
The book itself is a good read. I enjoy the witty and humorous tone of the book. The situations are some that I myself can empathize with (I think most of us have at one point in our lives held a crappy job with dim pay and prospects). However what I did not enjoy are her conclusions.
There are a lot of conclusions that she came to that are at best a stretch. At one point in the book she concludes that the reason she feels the way she does (about her job and life at that point) was because of the structured dominance of the American service industry. Pretty strong statement, not much to back it up though.
All in all I would suggest that anybody who likes investigative journalism to give this a read, but do not expect to have an epiphany by the end.
I did not want to talk about Kava until I had a decent enough picture to show alongside the explation. I think this image (to the right :P) is good enough.
Kava is a drink that is found across most of the South Pacific and is similar to alcohol in some respects. Euphoric behavior, mildly talkative, and restful sleep are just some of the effects.
Unfortunately it tastes like dish water and is generally enjoyed in 3+ hour sittings. That being said the kava culture is interesting and it is a true social occasion whenever you drink it.
I generally do not drink it with too many youth as it degenerates into exactly what would happen in the states if you got a bunch of male youth together to drink. When I do drink kava, it is generally before church with the ministers of the church. These weekly ceremonies are generally more interesting in that there is a sitting structure dictated by rank and even a formal order to shake hands upon entering. After the entrance there is a short prayer and then a passing of the kava.
The picture to the right was taken during the Christmas party at my work. The man drinking is an accountant I believe :).
More to come later! Here are some highlights...check the gallery for more.
Tongatapu (where I am at) felt an earthquake on Sunday. 7.6 magnitude, but pretty deep and far offshore. Felt like I had to much to drink to be honest :P.
I got my job assignment yesterday. I'll be working at the Tonga Institute of Higher Education (TIHE) as a full time faculty/staff member. I'll be teaching some classes as well as helping to maintain their systems.
This is a pretty awesome opportunity for me to improve my public speaking skills (or lack thereof :P) and I should be somewhat comfortable with what I am teaching. On top of this I'll be teaching in English since it is a college and English is mandatory in their education.
I'll try to get pictures up when I am in Tongatapu, but right now I am still kind of not having enough time to sit down and upload photos.
Well it has been a rough first couple of weeks. I have now lost both a laptop and an Ipod. Not really too concerned about them, but it still stings a little.
I finished up the first part of training on the main island of Tongatapu. I stayed in a village called Fua'amotu which was about 30 minutes outside of Noku'alofa...the capital of the country. My host family was amazing there. They taught me how to make fun of people...which is obviously the most important part of any language. So if you find yourself in Tonga and want to (jokingly) make fun of someone...throw out a mata 'i ngeli (monkey face).
Another thing that came to me today was how small this island country really is. My second host family knows my first host family...and we are completely different islands...about an 18-24 hour boat ride away. That is one of the amazing and kind of crappy things about the island. It means that wherever you are someone will probably know you, but also that someone will know your business.
Religion is a touchy subject here and I have avoided stating my personal beliefs at all. Of course this means I have to attend prayer meetings and such without the actual conviction they have. This being said, church here is awesome. Everyone sings wonderfully and there really is a living church.
Well that is it for now. I have to get off the computer...it costs too much money to use :P.
Well I am in Tonga. The internet is slow and not very convenient. I doubt I'll be posting more then once a week at best. My laptop is probably being enjoyed by someone else :P. It was 'lost' at LAX before my trip to Tonga. The pictures I have been taking are great, but I don't know how I would be able to upload them as the connection for this message took me a few minutes.
Nofo a
The last time I went to Mexico was about 10 years ago and I didn't really remember much. This time around I took notice of a lot more things. Here is a list of some of them.
Pros
---------
Food - Very very good food and lots of fruits and vegetables.
Price - Everything is about half as expensive as in the US. Exception being electronics which are much more expensive.
Scenery - The mountains of Tepic and the beaches of Mazatlan were beautiful. Even the drive through the deserts in Mexico while heading to Tepic were beautiful.
People - People were all wonderful while I was there. I had breakfast every morning and was shown around by a few friends of Ruben.
Cons
Roads - The roads everywhere in Mexico suck. They suck real bad too. The only exception was Puerto Vallarta since it is a foreign tourist location. The largest 'highway' I saw was two lanes and that was rare. It also costs about as much for tolls as it does gas. Not to mention that if you decide to take the 'free' highways you are going to get an even worse road.
Views of the US - There were several that left me wondering. The 1/4th of Americans are gay one made me laugh and the comments from a few of the hospital workers that I shouldn't be shown the hospital because I will be unsatisfied as an American made me sad. I was a little surprised that a lot of them believed racism doesn't exist in Mexico when there was clearly a lot of dislike for the Indian population. There was also a huge difference between how shades of Mexicans were perceived. For example a lighter Mexican was generally seen in a better light then a dark 'rancher' Mexican.
Overall the trip was lovely and I really enjoyed it. I'll probably visit again after I get back from Tonga, but I have a few other countries with friends I need to hit before then.
