I don't have no time
to listen to conflicting points of view
Its a crazy world to live alone
-- Sublime
In honor of RPCV Cooper's blog, Cooper in
Cambodia (and also because I don't really have a specific topic to blog about),
I'm listing "ten things I think" (or have done) of late, a potpourri
of thoughts and actions, if you will:
1)
The Undiscovered Country -- I've been listening to a lot of Sublime and
Mitch Hedberg lately. The lead singer of
Sublime and Hedberg, of course, have been dead for several years now. Gone before their time. Due to drugs, I believe. One can only wonder how much more they could
have contributed to music and comedy.
2)
Movies -- I watched Django Unchained but after recently
reading Uncle Tom's Cabin and Peter Mathiessen's Shadow Country,
the film was a bit of a disappointment.
3)
Asians in the Media -- Is Ken Jeong an Uncle Tom for playing the ridiculous Asian gangster in The Hangover films? Is he
basically "dancing for the white man" at the expense of Asians? Are people laughing at Jeong because he reinforces the stereotype
that Asians are goofy, nerdy, etc.? Has
Jeong set Asian-Americans back 100 years?
4)
"Western" Food -- I recently came back from the West
region of Cameroon, but when someone from my town asked me if I tried the local
food, I realized that I mostly just ate
shawarma and a few hamburgers during the trip.
5)
Funny PCVs -- I don't know too many people who can make me laugh,
but I gotta say that I've met some pretty hilarious volunteers -- Emily, Ryan,
another Ryan, Rob, Sarah, Ben, to name a few.
6)
Latest Derangement -- some
kid called me "sensei" and then bowed, like I was some sort of
martial arts teacher. I had to restrain
myself because I was ready to go off and have a violent reaction. Then again, if I had that reaction, that
would just reinforce their idea that I know martial arts.
7)
¿Donde vas?
I almost said "tambien" instead
of "aussi" while talking to someone.
That could mean that my Spanish is slowly coming back, which is good.
8)
Things Cameroonians never say:
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I cut in
front of you? A thousand apologies. Go on ahead."
9)
Cameroonian French -- I like how Cameroonians add "un
peu" to a lot of sentences, e.g. "Tu vois un peu", "Tu
comprends un peu", "Ca marche un peu", "Descends un
peu."
10)
The Weather -- The upside of being in a humid climate: no matter how cold it gets, a cold shower (or
bucket bath or river bath) isn't really cold.
