Shabu

With the growing movement to legalize cannabis in the United States (see November elections), its getting pretty easy to argue against the ridiculousness of making a plant illegal.  But how about so-called 'harder' drugs like heroin and methamphetamine?  Well, to paraphrase Dr. Carl Hart:  "... come out of the closet and say you used marijuana?  That sh*ts easy.  Say that you used other things as well.  And you have to do it in places where people are not friendly."  Alright, lets talk about shabu then!  If you don't already know, shabu is the drug of choice of many in the Philippines and it goes by many names:  methamphetamine, meth, crystal meth, and also Desoxyn, which is meth from Big Pharma.  Here's some quotes from three books I recently read regarding methamphetamine:  

"... most young people who become addicted to crystal meth are self-medicating other conditions:  most commonly attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but also depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or the effects of emotional and social dislocation.  ...[S]ome young street people who use crystal meth see it as a way of survival.  If the necessary physical, psychological, and social supports were provided, I believe it would not take long to diminish the appeal of methamphetamine and to wean the vast majority of stimulant addicts away from this harmful chemical." -- Dr. Gabor Mate, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts

"When it comes to marijuana and the party drugs like ecstasy, up to and including cocaine, I think the harms caused by a small increase in use is plainly outweighed by the gains.  That's why I would sell them in regulated stores, like alcohol.  And with drugs like crack and meth?  I am inclined to the middle option -- allow safe regulated spaces where users can buy and take them, supervised by doctors."  -- Johann Hari, Chasing the Scream

"These medications [amphetamine (Adderall), methamphetamine (Desoxyn) and methylphenidate (Ritalin)] are often prescribed for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), both in adults and in children.  They're also utilized for treating obesity and narcolepsy.  But although there are some cases of abuse, the vast majority of therapeutic users do not become addicted.  Indeed, there's some evidence that children given these drugs to treat attention problems are actually at lower risk of addiction later in life than those whose ADHD is not treated with medication. " -- Dr. Carl Hart, High Price 

Out of those three books, I would have to say that Chasing the Scream is my favorite.  It has so many tragic stories but also some inspiring ones.  After reading those 3 books, I needed a break from reading about drugs, so I'm now trying to finish Charles Dickens' David Copperfield.  Not as interesting.  I do have my eye on a few more books about drugs that look promising:  Maia Szalavitz's Unbroken Brain and Marc Lewis' The Biology of Desire.  So does this mean that I am addicted to books about drugs?

Tranquilo Como un Pepino

1)  You've Been to Guatemala? I've Been to Guatemala -- 

In Boquete with William, a fellow PCRV
in Panama and an RPCV from Guatemala

Joel, I would've worn the San Antonio shirt, but it was in the laundry hamper. 

2)  Panoramic Videos -- I don't know how to take panoramic shots on my camera, so I end up taking 360 degree videos instead:


Cinta Costera, Panama City

3)  Book Reviews -- Since drastically reducing my internet usage recently, I finished 2 books.  Sorry, Luke, the nativity scene is taking longer than anticipated.  Anyway, the books were Joe Abercrombie's Red Country and Jeff Olson's The Slight Edge.  I liked both books overall.  Both easier reads than Plato's The Republic in Spanish, which I've put on hold.  But I'm still undecided about the ending of Red Country.  My first reaction was that the build up to the big showdown fizzled.  Its an unconventional ending though, I'll give the author that. 

4)  No Picante  -- Say what you will about Cameroonian food, at least it was spicy.  Desafortunadamente, in Panama (ie, the town where I'm posted), the food is a tad bland.  Even if you wanted to grow habanero or jalapeño peppers, you won't find any seeds being sold in town.  Hmm… Did somebody say 'secondary project'?  I think so. 

5)  Poco a Poco --  One morning, I was trying to plant some seeds in the backyard, but the soil was very hard since the dry season already started.  I told my neighbor I should've planted the seeds during the rainy season.  She then said, "Poco a poco, se puede ser."  (Little by little, it can be done).  She was right.  The soil was ready later that afternoon.  Poco a poco.  Kinda like development. 

Boquete

1)  Biking in Boquete --  Peace Corps gave us two days off for Thanksgiving, which gave me the chance to check out a bit of Panama.  In this case, the cool climate of Boquete with fellow PCRV William:

2)  Staged Photo of the Day

"Reading" Plato's The Republic in front of a church

3)  Hmmm...  -- according to this Coke poster in Boquete, 2 liter Coke bottles are now returnable:

4)  Quote of the Day -- "Life is too short for me to be piddling around."

PCRV William's translation into Spanish

5)  Music of the Day -- Sublime's Santeria, only because I heard music in Boquete that sounded like the song. 

Cinco Aleatorio

1)  Postmate, Kind of -- I don't have a postmate, but I do have a fellow PCV named Kelsey who's not too far from my post, but more in the countryside.  I recently attended one of her recycling charlas, complete with old fashioned, roll-out paper presentations and an icebreaker:

It was quite motivating to see such enthusiastic community members, making suggestions, coming up with solutions, etc.

2)  Como se dice "sorcelery" -- Baseball is big down here in Panama and one of the students in the office asked me who I thought would win Game 7 of the World Series.  I wanted to say that whoever had their mojo going would win.  I didn't know how to say 'mojo' in Spanish, so I ended up not making a prediction.  Either way, looks like the Giants had their mojo going.  Note:  I had an idea what 'mojo' meant, but not its precise definition.  According to the Oxford dictionary, it means magic charm or spell.  Sounds like sorcery to me. 

3)  Ser o No Ser -- one thing I do to improve my Spanish is by reading books.  That's what was great about Guadalajara, Mexico -- the bookstores were everywhere.  At the regional capital here in Panama, not so much.  The only books I could find are school books.  So, as much as I love the classics, its also nice to read newer books like those by Malcolm Gladwell or J.K. Rowling in Spanish.  Since I didn't have much of a selection here, I ended up buying Hamlet.  They also had Plato, but that might take a while to finish since that's probably already hard to understand in English, let alone Spanish. 

4)  Sustainable Aid -- Back in Cameroon, I was influenced by a fellow PCV named Jeff.  He was of the belief that we should not do any funded projects.  Not one.  Zero.  We should only be teaching techniques (eg agricultural techniques) and sharing ideas.  He saw projects that required outside funding as handouts.  He even wrote about it in our newsletter.  He draws influence from William Easterly and Roland Bunch.  I agree with him to some extent.  As they say, "Give a man fish…"

5)  Quote of the day -- "This is a sub-Saharan Spring and it must continue against all the presidents who are trying to hang on to power in Africa."

Siete

1)  Quote of the day -- "The NFL has had an inappropriate language penalty in its rule book, and this year is having officials enforce it with an emphasis on eliminating racial slurs."   Unless of course when the racial slur is also the name of an NFL team. 

2)  Currently reading -- the Spanish version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (La Cámara Secreta).  Vocab that I learned in the book that I'll probably never use in real life:  pergamino, which means parchment. 

3)  Advantage of a dumb phone -- my dumb phone has this really cool app, where I only need to charge my phone once and it lasts for 3-4 days.  Its pretty cool. 

4)  Floyd Mayweather -- I watched a Mayweather fight for the first time several weeks ago.  The one against Maidano.  Man, that was a boring fight.  I can see now how Mayweather has had such a long career.  Then again, if it wasn't boring, then somebody was probably getting their head bashed in.  Ah, boxing. 

5)  A Day at the Office

Come Visit Me. Yes.  Here.  In Panama.

 6)  Cameroonian English -- I was wearing a shirt from Cameroon that said "Join us improve the environment" and a counterpart was reading it out loud, trying to learn English.  I told him its probably not a good idea to learn English from that shirt. 

7)  Just Like Lebron -- Talked to my mom last night.  Looks like I'll be moving back to the Philippines next year after I finish my service in Panama.  Not sure how useful a TEFL certificate would be over there.  Probably not very. 

Cinq Choses Dont Je Pense

Because I couldn't think of 10. 

1)  COS Conference -- we laughed, we cried, we played trivia, we got extensions, we got denied extensions, we drank, we got together one last time, we called people out, we danced.  Our last hurrah together since most of us will be leaving Cameroon in November.  Bittersweet. 

2)  Song About Math -- My new favorite song is Wizboyy's One Plus One, not only because the singer's name sounds funny, but because I also learned that one plus one is apparently one.  Also, the song has the following lyrics:

Is a dream of every man
to get a finest girl like you,
we go be like Rice and Stew

And:

You are the personality,
The sugar in my tea,
My testimony…
See, the probability is equal to unity of our matrimony..
This love is raised to the power of infinity.

You should really hear it:




3)  Star Trek Into Darkness -- just recently saw the latest trek movie and it seemed more like an extended SNL skit than an actual film.  But I've gotta say I'm biased since I prefer the original cast.  You just can't replace the original Khan or Kirk or McCoy, etc. 

4)  Things I Didn't Know Before -- According to Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel, Pinoys originally came from South China thousands of years ago.  The same book also says that the people of Madagascar originated from Asia.

5)  Green Corps -- I think Peace Corps should look into becoming more green.  For instance, how about replacing the current PC vehicles with hybrid vehicles?  Or have the staff take public transportation?  How about "Bike to Work" day?  Hey, I'm just throwing it out there.

Les Livres

Its true that volunteers read quite a lot of books during service. Sometimes we read books that have never interested us before, as the video, So you Want to Join the Peace Corps, claims. That happened to me when the battery on my Kindle ran out, which by the way only lasts one week if you read more than one hour per day. Anyway, since a previous volunteer had left a book at my house that was a collection of Jane Austen's novels, I ended up reading about 20 chapters of Pride and Prejudice. Its actually pretty interesting so I'll probably end up finishing it. Anyway, here's some interesting quotes from books I've read (reread) during my time here in Cameroon:

 " … he quit it to create what later would be called a blog but at the time was just a weird form of communication." -- The Big Short by Michael Lewis

"I learned that a long time ago, you're not paid back for the bad you do nor the good you do. It all comes out uneven at the end." -- Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick

"Since countries with larger poverty problems get more aid, those countries have little incentive to alleviate their poverty problems." -- The Elusive Quest for Growth by William Easterly

"But I've barely had three months training!" -- Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings 

"Besides, that was blackmail, which I am told is very wrong." -- Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

"'I made one decision based on money in my life … and I promised I'd never do it again.'" -- Billy Bean in Michael Lewis' Moneyball

"We keep passing unseen through little moments of other people's lives." -- Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

"After the soil is degraded, no longer usable [for farming], many families join the millions in city slums." -- The Peace Corps' Soil and Water Conservation for Small Farm Development in the Tropics

"… we should do only those things that people cannot, or in the beginning will not, do themselves." -- Roland Bunch's Two Ears of Corn

I also finished Jared Diamond's Collapse, where I learned that deforestation and overpopulation are apparently bad.

Facebook's Influence

Perhaps due to Facebook or Twitter's influence, my journal entries (electronically and on paper) have become one to two sentence entries. Hence, the following blog entry with one or two sentence descriptions of recent events or thoughts:

1) My French is as good as my Tagalog, which means that its not great, but I can get by.

2) Speaking of languages, I have found an effective way to learn Bulu, the local language in my village. I just take a French college textbook and translate the lessons into Bulu, with the help of a tutor, of course. This method gives the lessons more structure and less randomness.

3) The sound of Cameroonian drums is pretty awesome. Except when its 5 in the morning, in which case, its annoying.

4) I'm glad that Cameroonians sell rice in the market because frankly, I am Asian and bread is no substitute for rice.

5) I learned how to prepare coffee without a coffee maker (i.e. I use a strainer). A strainer works well with tea leaves as well.

6) I believe in carpooling as much as the next guy, but fourteen people in a car (ie bush taxis) is freaking ridiculous! Thus, I am going to explore other modes of transportation such as a motorcycle. If I just accept the status quo, nothing will change, right? I was thinking that perhaps they could have a bush taxi that has less people but would cost more. Like those VIP buses. VIP bush taxi perhaps? I bet there are people willing to pay extra not to sit in a car with 14 people.

7) Whenever someone says 'Ni ho' or 'Chinois' to me, I feel like I'm in a Seinfeld episode because I feel like shouting: "I'm not Chinese!" And then quickly adding, "Not that there's anything wrong with it."


8) I think solar panels would be great in Cameroon since its an equatorial country and gets more direct sunlight than non-equatorial countries.

9) An acquaintance brought a girl over to my house (his cousin) one night and offered that I sleep with her. Awkward. I declined.

10) Cameroonians love putting the maggi cube in all of their cooking.

11) Had a pretty good meeting with the Forestry delegate at my village. Among other things, I learned that one can sell bush meat at restaurants as long as one had a permit. Of course, the question is: how many have a permit?

12) Recent books I finished: William Easterly's The Elusive Quest for Growth, Roland Bunch's Two Ears of Corn, Mario Puzo's The Godfather, Elmore Leonard's Get Shorty, Malcolm Gladwell's Blink, and Michael Lewis' Moneyball.

13) I never liked eating raw onions until I ate them with hot pepper sauce and braised fish.

14) Speaking of braised fish, I can no longer eat the braised fish from the street after buying fresh mackerel and realizing how small the street mackerel is.

15) I think I should've brought a portable water filter to Cameroon. Or learn how to make one a la Les Stroud. I've been to meetings where so many water bottles are handed out, which sort of contradict the Environmental-friendly philosophy of my position.

Andre Agassi

I just finished Andre Agassi's autobiography, Open: An Autobiography. Agassi describes his book as a story of redemption. For some reason, everything seems to be about redemption nowadays. I guess too many people have things they have to atone for. hehe.

Probably my favorite parts of the book are his stories on his coach Brad Gilbert and his future wife, Steffi Graf. Gilbert helped Agassi win several big tournaments and it was interesting to read how he did that. Agassi's courtship of Graf was also interesting. I like this quote from Agassi to Graf: "If you're not moving forward, you're moving backward." He told her that because she was dating some other guy for 6 years. He was trying to get her to give him a chance and forget about her then-boyfriend. I guess it worked. hehe.

Here are some other things I learned:

1) Agassi is not a fan of Boris Becker or Michael Chang. Becker said Agassi got preferential treatment from the tournament officials. Agassi disagreed with that assessment and held it against Becker ever since. Chang meanwhile was always thanking God and Agassi was annoyed by it.

2) He accused former player Jeff Tarango of cheating when they were playing as kids. Tarango now coaches tennis and denies the accusations.

3) He listens to soft rock (Barbara Streisand, Celine Dion, Richard Marx) despite his rebel image. Agassi hated the rebel image, btw. He never thought of himself as a rebel.

4) He hated tennis, but played because he didn't have any other skills. He only has a 9th grade education. Also, his dad was a bit of a tyrant -- the classic "sports dad".

5) In his youth, he once played in his jeans when he played an opponent becuase he didn't think his opponent was much of a challenge. Sounds familiar.

The book was written with the help of J.R. Moehringer, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his book The Tender Bar. How much credit Moehringer gets for the book, who knows. Either way, the final product was an entertaining read. Lots of good stories. Many of them funny.

Technorati tags: Andre Agassi

The Kite Runner

It may be a bit strange to be talking about a book that came out 6 years ago, but since some commenters recommended The Kite Runner on one of my blog posts, I decided to check out the book. I guess the commenters mentioned the Kite Runner b/c the blog post was about the friendship between a British-Indian reporter and his Pashtun guide, which was an episode of the TV show Locked Up Abroad. The Kite Runner also involved friendship, but this time between a Pashtun and a Hazara, two ethnic groups in Afghanistan. Compared to The Kite Runner, those guys in the Locked Up Abroad episode had it easy. They just spent about a month in a Pakistani jail. hehe. Nobody died in that story, at least. The Kite Runner is a bit different. Characters die (or nearly die) left and right. Definitely lots of sad moments.

The story takes place in Afghanistan, Pakistan and California. I knew a little bit about Afghanistan from the news and from Ahmad Rashid's book Taliban, but its different when a novel is set in Afghanistan and characters created. They just seem more alive in the hands of a good novelist. The frequent mention of Afghan food also made me want to look for Afghan restaurants here in the Bay Area. hehe.

As for the film version of the book, I haven't seen it yet. I might be disappointed though. I checked the movie's official website and I'm already thinking to myself that some of the castmembers don't look like how I envisioned the characters. For instance, I thought the Hazara characters would look more Chinese, for example and that Baba would be fatter ... err... I mean bigger. hehe.

My only quibble with the book is that it had one too many twists and turns. ***Warning: Spoilers ahead. Oddly enough, the book mentions that Afghans don't mind spoilers. In fact, they want to know the ending of a film or book, whether the guy or girl in the film finds happiness in the end. hehe. But as I was saying, I think the story could've ended with Amir and Sohrab leaving Afghanistan. Sohrab attempting suicide was too much. I didn't think it was necessary b/c I think the story is about Amir and his chance to be a good person again and he already did that by risking his life to rescue Sohrab. End of Spoiler***

Other than that, I liked the book. Specifically, I liked the theme of redemption. Baba and Amir trying to redeem themselves through their actions -- Baba through his generosity and Amir by trying to rescue Sohrab . It's better than simply writing a happy ending in a novel like that character Briony in Atonement did. What is it about characters who are writers having a dark past? hehe.

Anyway, here's some quotes from the book that I liked:

1) For me, America was a place to bury my memories. For Baba, a place to mourn his.

2) But the Bay Area's smog stung his eyes, the traffic noise gave him headaches, and the pollen made him cough.

3) It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime, Amir.

4) We may be hardheaded and I know we're far too proud, but, in the hour of need, believe me that there's no one you'd rather have at your side than a Pashtun.

5) How could I, of all people, chastise someone for their past?

6) Sad stories make good books.

7) "Why didn't you leave?" I said. "Kabul was my home. It still is" [, replied Rahim Khan].

8) ... a boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up to anything.

9) And that, I believe, is what true redemption is, Amir jan, when guilt leads to good.

10) ... better to get hurt by the truth than be comforted by a lie.

Technorati tags: The Kite Runner

Belated Potter Post

I finished reading book 7 in the Harry Potter series so I can finally read all those Harry Potter posts, (e.g. from Toe and niceheart). And I agree with Vern's comment in Toe's post: ka-korny nga yung last chapter (i.e. the epilogue). hehe. Anyway, what can I say? Galing talaga mag-sulat si Madame Rowling. I'm not really much of a fiction book reader. As I've previously posted, I only listened to books 1-4 of HP and only started reading the HP books when book 5 came out. Like niceheart, I'm also a slow reader. I'm just not one to sit for hours on end just reading. Thus, it'll take me a while to finish a book. I haven't even finished reading Return of the King (book 3 in the Lord of the Rings series)... and I started reading that book a few years ago. haha.

Anyway, I was wondering what it is about the HP books that has made them so captivating for readers worldwide. I have a few theories. One reason: I think it's because people can identify with the characters. I mean who among us can't sympathize with Snape, a guy with a dark past and who ****WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD***** as it turns out is a guy trying to redeem himself... as Potter finally finds out in the end. I was always rooting for Snape and I'm glad that he turned out to be a good guy. I thought it was a nice touch that Harry Potter finally paid tribute to Snape, a guy he previously detested by giving his son the middle name of Severus. Potter must really owe the guy big time though. I mean naming your kid Severus? hehe. Well, at least it's only a middle name. Oh, wait, the first name he gave the kid was Albus. Albus Severus. Poor kid. Good thing the kid's only a fictional character. ;)

Another reason why I think the book has captivated so many readers is because the characters are funny. They don't take themselves too seriously all the time and they can easily crack a joke or two even during dire situations. For example, how about Hermione making fun of Ron because Ron was complaining about how he lost some fingernails while she and Harry were fighting for their lives in Godric's Hollow?

Hermione: "Imagine losing fingernails, Harry! That really puts our suffering into perspective, doesn't it?"

How about Ron literally using the word "effing" on page 307?

Ron: "Yeah, and we're about as near getting rid of it as we are to finding the rest of them -- nowhere effing near, in other words!"

They're so proper, aren't they? They don't even say the whole curse word. haha. I couldn't remember exactly where Ron said "effing" so I typed in "Where does Ron say effing in deathly hallows" in a search engine. hehe. Now, Mrs. Weasley calling Bellatrix a ..... well, that's a different story. hehe. Well, that's my bellatrix... I mean belated Harry Potter post. :D

On a completely unrelated note, here's a song to go out on for the weekend. It's called "San Antonio Rose" as performed by Les Paul and Chet Atkins. :DHave a nice weekend, people! ;)

Technorati tags: Harry Potter