First of all, I apologize for my late arrival to this wonderful blog, both in concept and in realization. The glimpse into your lives has proved fascinating, moving, and even frightening.
Francis: that day, when you bought and gave up your puppy, was both eventful and ultimately inconsequential. What a queer experience, but how moving!
Valeria: how I long to venture into the wild, and witness the enigmatic beauty of outer space, as you did in Delaware...
Lisa: your words are concise and infrequent. I'm disappointed. :P
Linda: you should really reach out to a bigger guy-friend you can trust; ask him to have a little talk with your stalker and to threaten his life if he says even one more word to you. Both Francis and I are genuinely concerned about your well-being. But how fascinating are your photos and your stories about life in Africa! All the small accounts like the bathroom sign and having to iron your underwear for fear of being devoured by infant pests...I envy your bravery!
What have I been up to?
I have been stuck in Colorado since my departure from Philadelphia.
Some of you know this already, but I missed the rent deadline so was forced to postpone my internship start-date by a month. Instead of ending my internship in late July and traveling around South America for a few weeks before returning to Penn, I shall end my trip in late August without the thrills of trekking through the Amazon or the Andes...
Oh well, we all know that exerting much physical energy is not very Anthony Leem.
This Friday I shall be in New York City for a Social Impact Business conference, to which I am being sent by my microfinance firm in Buenos Aires. I do hope to spend some time with Lisa during my brief sojourn back on the East Coast. I also discovered that the UNICEF Summit will be held on the same weekend just a few blocks away, so I hope to stop by and say hello to my colleagues from across the nation's campus initiatives.
I promise you all wonderful photos and exotic stories in a couple weeks' time, when I join Linda in the Southern Hemisphere, where toilets flush in the opposite direction (though I wonder if she could possibly corroborate the truth of this phenomenon, since it seems she is living without civilization...lol).
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Faith restored
My friend Rachel came to Botswana 3 years ago through this program and made a few local friends. She put me in touch with one guy named Knight, who has been trying to meet up with me over coffee for the past two weeks. I was initially sketched out by the idea of meeting this random guy one on one, but after running into him a few times last week (at the very few places there are to hang out around here), I got a good "I'm not a sketchy stalker or creep!" vibe from him. He would always greet me and introduce himself to the other interns without intruding on our business/ harassing us/etc., so when I ran into him this past Friday, I finally agreed to have coffee with him.
So yeah, we had coffee yesterday. He really does seem like a genuinely nice guy, and he carries himself really well. He’s fairly quiet but likes to talk, and everything he says is in a polite, respectful, chill and non-threatening or suggestive tone. It turns out his mother is the speaker of parliament here, and she used to be minister of local gov't and minister of presidential affairs and public administration. He does microfinance and travels a shit ton with his job, but it’s also very clear that because he’s from a political family, he’s just plain loaded and goes all over the place. It was really refreshing to talk to this guy about Botswana without having him be aggressively forward (or forward at all!).
Maybe it’s just an elaborate scheme to lure me into a false sense of security, but he seems really legit and not interested in anything other than helping me have a good 2 months in Botswana. I’m not sure how many risks I want to take in hanging out with him, though. For example, he said that if the other interns have trouble figuring out travel arrangements to be in S. Africa, I'm welcome to drive down with his group of friends since they're going to go to a lot of World Cup stuff. I have a feeling that it wouldn't be smart for just me to go with them, but I'm pretty tempted by the offer because figuring out travel/accommodations is a PAIN.
Crossing my fingers and hoping that he turns out to be as legit as he seems.
So yeah, we had coffee yesterday. He really does seem like a genuinely nice guy, and he carries himself really well. He’s fairly quiet but likes to talk, and everything he says is in a polite, respectful, chill and non-threatening or suggestive tone. It turns out his mother is the speaker of parliament here, and she used to be minister of local gov't and minister of presidential affairs and public administration. He does microfinance and travels a shit ton with his job, but it’s also very clear that because he’s from a political family, he’s just plain loaded and goes all over the place. It was really refreshing to talk to this guy about Botswana without having him be aggressively forward (or forward at all!).
Maybe it’s just an elaborate scheme to lure me into a false sense of security, but he seems really legit and not interested in anything other than helping me have a good 2 months in Botswana. I’m not sure how many risks I want to take in hanging out with him, though. For example, he said that if the other interns have trouble figuring out travel arrangements to be in S. Africa, I'm welcome to drive down with his group of friends since they're going to go to a lot of World Cup stuff. I have a feeling that it wouldn't be smart for just me to go with them, but I'm pretty tempted by the offer because figuring out travel/accommodations is a PAIN.
Crossing my fingers and hoping that he turns out to be as legit as he seems.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
the perfect campsite
Location: Delaware water gap
Last week my friend Chloe and I decided to go camping, so we drove out a few hours north of the city along the Delaware river and into New Jersey to this area we had been to before called the Delaware water gap. It's mostly a very civilized recreational area for families to have "outdoor" types of fun, but there is also a more wild part where the Appalachian trail comes through, where you're allowed to camp if you're through-hiking, which we weren't. Still, after walking uphill for a bit carrying sleeping bags, food and a case of beer, we found this amazing grassy open space with a rocky outcrop that looked out over the valley and this long lake that had a camp at one end. It was the perfect place for a campsite, but there were no signs of anyone having used it really in a while - no fire circles or marks from tents or anything. We sort of improvised a clear area for a fire and surrounded it with rocks, then made a fire and whittled sticks with our pocketknives like true old men and cooked hotdogs on them and then toasted marshmallows. It was a really warm night, and we fell asleep soon after the sun finished setting (this took a few hours, with the shadow of the ridge we were sitting on slowly moving east over the valley). The whole time we kept hearing voices from down in the valley, as though kids were running around and playing down there around the camp, but we could barely ever pick out anyone walking by the boat house on the shore. Around 3 AM, I woke up almost sober and looking at the stars over my head saw the band of the milky way. I've only seen the stars like that a handfull of times before, and it's always astounding to see the sky so full like that, far away from light pollution and in the darkest part of the night. In the morning we woke up around 7 because the sun was beaming down on our cliff and made another fire for a second round of hotdogs. Then it got unbearably sunny and hot with the fire there, so we packed up, hopped in a lake, dried off and drove home.
What we saw:
Last week my friend Chloe and I decided to go camping, so we drove out a few hours north of the city along the Delaware river and into New Jersey to this area we had been to before called the Delaware water gap. It's mostly a very civilized recreational area for families to have "outdoor" types of fun, but there is also a more wild part where the Appalachian trail comes through, where you're allowed to camp if you're through-hiking, which we weren't. Still, after walking uphill for a bit carrying sleeping bags, food and a case of beer, we found this amazing grassy open space with a rocky outcrop that looked out over the valley and this long lake that had a camp at one end. It was the perfect place for a campsite, but there were no signs of anyone having used it really in a while - no fire circles or marks from tents or anything. We sort of improvised a clear area for a fire and surrounded it with rocks, then made a fire and whittled sticks with our pocketknives like true old men and cooked hotdogs on them and then toasted marshmallows. It was a really warm night, and we fell asleep soon after the sun finished setting (this took a few hours, with the shadow of the ridge we were sitting on slowly moving east over the valley). The whole time we kept hearing voices from down in the valley, as though kids were running around and playing down there around the camp, but we could barely ever pick out anyone walking by the boat house on the shore. Around 3 AM, I woke up almost sober and looking at the stars over my head saw the band of the milky way. I've only seen the stars like that a handfull of times before, and it's always astounding to see the sky so full like that, far away from light pollution and in the darkest part of the night. In the morning we woke up around 7 because the sun was beaming down on our cliff and made another fire for a second round of hotdogs. Then it got unbearably sunny and hot with the fire there, so we packed up, hopped in a lake, dried off and drove home.
What we saw:
Friday, June 4, 2010
I'm so happy I live here again
Before
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After
Yesterday I moved back to the city into the place that I have to myself for the next year. It's a 2nd-floor apartment in a converted townhouse on Spruce, and it's so big that I fit a full bed, arm chair, desk, two book shelves, two small tables, one kitchen table with two chairs and a kitchen shelf into it with room to spare. It's only one room, too. The ceilings are extremely high and there are six windows. The view looks out on a big tree in the backyard and the houses across the way. All the fixtures are probably 90 years old, but that gives it some kind of charm, as do the patches of loose floorboards. Needless to say, I love it very much.
.jpg)
After
Yesterday I moved back to the city into the place that I have to myself for the next year. It's a 2nd-floor apartment in a converted townhouse on Spruce, and it's so big that I fit a full bed, arm chair, desk, two book shelves, two small tables, one kitchen table with two chairs and a kitchen shelf into it with room to spare. It's only one room, too. The ceilings are extremely high and there are six windows. The view looks out on a big tree in the backyard and the houses across the way. All the fixtures are probably 90 years old, but that gives it some kind of charm, as do the patches of loose floorboards. Needless to say, I love it very much.
I regret to say that
I would not mind jumping on a plane right now and going back to the States. I wish I were spending my summer in Cali or Boston or NYC or Philly or even Michigan. Being here makes me miss Philly so much, and each day I'm getting more excited about going back to school...
Everything seems to move slower here: service, people, days, etc. Work is not exciting, and I would probably be more useful if I just volunteered at some soup kitchen in Detroit. I guess it's disappointing so far--especially work, and things probably won't pick up anytime in the next two months. It's also frustrating because in any city in the US, you can use the internet to find out about cool opportunities or events to check out, or I could find some side project to get involved in, but here, they don't really use the internet. :( You can't find anything about anything! The city is also really inaccessible if you don't have a car; the only places within walking distance are my job and the shopping center that I already go to (at least) every other day. More than ever, I want to make some rash decision like go off and hang out with the locals.. Find out what there is to do in this city...
I'm also just disappointed in myself for being disappointed in this experience, for even being able to say that I really want to be in Philly right now. Many of the other interns are somewhat frustrated with their job placements, too, and how useless they feel, so I think it's mostly just this program-- I'm completely unneeded as an intern here. They have nothing for me to do (except for maybe data entry, which I do NOT want to do). If I could, I'd abandon this internship and go volunteer at some orphanage or go to an outside villages and take pictures all day. If I could, I'd stop being so scared and just be rash and immerse myself in this country, adventure with locals and such. I think that would help alleviate this problem.. but also probably cause some other problems. Sigh.
Everything seems to move slower here: service, people, days, etc. Work is not exciting, and I would probably be more useful if I just volunteered at some soup kitchen in Detroit. I guess it's disappointing so far--especially work, and things probably won't pick up anytime in the next two months. It's also frustrating because in any city in the US, you can use the internet to find out about cool opportunities or events to check out, or I could find some side project to get involved in, but here, they don't really use the internet. :( You can't find anything about anything! The city is also really inaccessible if you don't have a car; the only places within walking distance are my job and the shopping center that I already go to (at least) every other day. More than ever, I want to make some rash decision like go off and hang out with the locals.. Find out what there is to do in this city...
I'm also just disappointed in myself for being disappointed in this experience, for even being able to say that I really want to be in Philly right now. Many of the other interns are somewhat frustrated with their job placements, too, and how useless they feel, so I think it's mostly just this program-- I'm completely unneeded as an intern here. They have nothing for me to do (except for maybe data entry, which I do NOT want to do). If I could, I'd abandon this internship and go volunteer at some orphanage or go to an outside villages and take pictures all day. If I could, I'd stop being so scared and just be rash and immerse myself in this country, adventure with locals and such. I think that would help alleviate this problem.. but also probably cause some other problems. Sigh.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
i had a puppy
I only have two pairs of pants here in Beijing, and I've only been wearing one pair for about the past week, so yesterday I grabbed some cash and went over to the Uniqlo across the street from my apartment. On the way I have to cross a skybridge, and that night on that skybridge was a man selling puppies out of a box. I have been in the process of getting my mom a dog for awhile now, and I considered getting one here. I first went to the mall across the street, but I decided that a puppy would be a better option.
I went back and asked how much they were, and he told me 230kuai (which is how much a pair of pants would have cost me). After not much careful consideration I bought one and took it back to my apartment. The one I picked looked like Simba with much darker fur.
In my apartment it took some time getting adjusted, and spent a lot of time tugging on and untying my shoelaces. As I watched it the weight of the situation set in. I realized I didn't have any food in the apartment, I don't have enough money to feed us both, I'd have to take it to the vet and get it vaccinated, I'd have to deal with customs bringing it back into the US, and in general I had no idea how to take care of a puppy. My grandparents would also not be cool with me having a puppy in their extra apartment, but I figured it be safe since they never came up to the apartment I lived in. As I was contemplating the rashness of my decision, I looked up and saw that my laundry had been done. So now I knew that the caretaker of their apartment also came up to this one, and would probably tell them about the unwanted guest.
So I was faced with a tough decision. I have "disposed" of unwanted animals in the past, but I got and still get a lot of shit for it, so I wasn't going to do that again. Instead I took the puppy right back to the man who sold it to me, and after a lot of convincing I got him to take it back, but he wouldn't give me back my money. I was fine with that, though. I deserved that.
I went back and asked how much they were, and he told me 230kuai (which is how much a pair of pants would have cost me). After not much careful consideration I bought one and took it back to my apartment. The one I picked looked like Simba with much darker fur.
In my apartment it took some time getting adjusted, and spent a lot of time tugging on and untying my shoelaces. As I watched it the weight of the situation set in. I realized I didn't have any food in the apartment, I don't have enough money to feed us both, I'd have to take it to the vet and get it vaccinated, I'd have to deal with customs bringing it back into the US, and in general I had no idea how to take care of a puppy. My grandparents would also not be cool with me having a puppy in their extra apartment, but I figured it be safe since they never came up to the apartment I lived in. As I was contemplating the rashness of my decision, I looked up and saw that my laundry had been done. So now I knew that the caretaker of their apartment also came up to this one, and would probably tell them about the unwanted guest.
So I was faced with a tough decision. I have "disposed" of unwanted animals in the past, but I got and still get a lot of shit for it, so I wasn't going to do that again. Instead I took the puppy right back to the man who sold it to me, and after a lot of convincing I got him to take it back, but he wouldn't give me back my money. I was fine with that, though. I deserved that.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
stalker out of control
THIS IS GOING TO BE A HUGE RAMBLE. SORRY.
This guy is really creeping me out and absolutely won't leave me alone. sent me a text this weekend that said "hey btfl plis return my calls cuz im so in luv w u," then fucking showed up at my door yesterday 2 minutes after i returned from work (even checked to see if he was around the building when i entered and didn't see him. where he followed me from i have no idea). told him to leave me alone, told him that i didn't feel comfortable around him and that he shouldn't be at my dorm and that i was absolutely not interested in hanging out with him and that i was seeing someone at home.
Today I was walking back from work, not even near my building, and he fucking popped out of nowhere. "Don't you think all these coincidences are signaling like fate?" NO you fucking weirdo. He told me he liked that I was hard to get, a challenge, and that he respects that I have a boyfriend but that my boyfriend is probably fucking some girl right now and that we should just get together for these two months. NO. He kept asking what our plan was, and I said there is no plan, you need to leave me alone, stop following me, etc. He just replied by saying that he likes that I'm careful because he's careful, too, at which point he pulled out his HIV test results (negative). At one point I was so desperate to get rid of him that I was like how do you know I like guys, to which he said, "Ah, that's a fast way to try and get rid of me, but then I'd want you even more." AFDlk;jfne.
There are so many other parts of this conversation that enraged me that I'm not going to ramble about because there are actually too many. He actually had the nerve to ask if we could chat in my room afterwards. We even had this conversation in front of security guards, but they did nothing, and after I left I saw that they were joking around with him about something. I am going to talk to my program supervisors tomorrow because I am scared to go home from work every day, and I have like 7 more weeks here. Sadly I don't know if talking to security will do anything because he is also a student on the campus and has a right to be on it, and I'm also terrified that anything I do will just drive him to try harder and be more aggressive. I just need like a 24/7 body guard or something. Or to get a buzz cut and wear shades all the time.
ARGHhhhhhhhhh.
This guy is really creeping me out and absolutely won't leave me alone. sent me a text this weekend that said "hey btfl plis return my calls cuz im so in luv w u," then fucking showed up at my door yesterday 2 minutes after i returned from work (even checked to see if he was around the building when i entered and didn't see him. where he followed me from i have no idea). told him to leave me alone, told him that i didn't feel comfortable around him and that he shouldn't be at my dorm and that i was absolutely not interested in hanging out with him and that i was seeing someone at home.
Today I was walking back from work, not even near my building, and he fucking popped out of nowhere. "Don't you think all these coincidences are signaling like fate?" NO you fucking weirdo. He told me he liked that I was hard to get, a challenge, and that he respects that I have a boyfriend but that my boyfriend is probably fucking some girl right now and that we should just get together for these two months. NO. He kept asking what our plan was, and I said there is no plan, you need to leave me alone, stop following me, etc. He just replied by saying that he likes that I'm careful because he's careful, too, at which point he pulled out his HIV test results (negative). At one point I was so desperate to get rid of him that I was like how do you know I like guys, to which he said, "Ah, that's a fast way to try and get rid of me, but then I'd want you even more." AFDlk;jfne.
There are so many other parts of this conversation that enraged me that I'm not going to ramble about because there are actually too many. He actually had the nerve to ask if we could chat in my room afterwards. We even had this conversation in front of security guards, but they did nothing, and after I left I saw that they were joking around with him about something. I am going to talk to my program supervisors tomorrow because I am scared to go home from work every day, and I have like 7 more weeks here. Sadly I don't know if talking to security will do anything because he is also a student on the campus and has a right to be on it, and I'm also terrified that anything I do will just drive him to try harder and be more aggressive. I just need like a 24/7 body guard or something. Or to get a buzz cut and wear shades all the time.
ARGHhhhhhhhhh.
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