Thursday, May 29, 2008

Reentry

Buzzz Buzzzz

I wake briefly about 01:30 to the buzzing of a mosquito. WTF? This is the first mosquito I've encountered here in the Sonora Desert. The evil little bloodsucker feasts on my hand and that is the end of that. At least I know that it isn't carrying The Dengue.

I am up a bit after 6. The 46" LCD has CNBC yakking prior to the opening bell. Americans are focused on all the bad news about oil. I don't understand, oil is still dirt cheap here. I am paying about $3.75 a gallon to feed regular into my new Honda Fit. Politicians are talking about a moratorium on gas taxes. These are the only taxes I'd like to see raised. Oh well, different perspectives.

I hop on my Fuji full suspension mountain bike and pedal over to the Doctor's office. I have my fasting labs for my post service physical. After my second bloodsucking of the morning I scarf a banana and cycle to the super upscale Kierland Shopping area. I read the Wall Street Journal and suck down a couple of half caffs. I am the only person in the place using a 'for here" cup.

I have been going crazy knocking out all the things that need to be done when moving to a new town, country and hemisphere. I now have a nice two bedroom appartment in Scottsdale. My daughter spent the weekend and has her room pretty much set up. I have a pool with a sandy beach and a couple of hot tubs. Through my open windows I hear falling water from fountains.

It is a far cry from my life at the campsite in Tonga.

I am getting comfortable with all the excess and the crowds of white people. At Starbucks I sit next to the only black guy in the place. I haven't seen any Pacific Islanders around. I am sure some are in the area, but probably not in this super upscale corner of Scottsdale.

I will chat with several of the PCVs still in Tonga today. I am thankful for google chat. I may also get an email from a Tongan associate. I wish I could contribute more to my old projects, but without the involvment of The Peace Corps. We'll see. I am almost caught up and have the time to update my blog.

I contemplate my friends in Tonga. What have I learned that they may find helpful or at least interesting?

  • Don't underestimate the culture shock. I found it tough to go into a store or be somewhere with crowds of white people.
  • Old habits are hard to break. I have no probkem driving on the right side of the road, but my bike keeps wanting to be on the left. I have some HUGE bruises from a bike crash a couple of days ago.
  • You have no idea how great it is to be able to eat anything you want. Having said that, last night I had Kapa Ika, curry and onions with rice with Mangos for desert. But tonight I plan on a T-Bone and baked tater with a big salad.
  • There is no dirt in the apartment that the vacuum can't suck up in a few minutes.
  • It takes about three days to get clean. You will see your pores slowly clear. Cloths washed in a washer and dried in a drier feel so different.
  • I threw out my stinky sandals from Tonga. My feet are now clean.
  • My sister and her guy were nice enough to tolerate my constant references to Tonga during my decompression. But in general nobody wants to hear anything about Tonga or the Peace Corps. I have pretty much stopped mentioning it.
  • I miss my PCV, Australia Youth Ambassaadar and Tongan friends.

4 comments:

alexis said...

We miss you too! But we are so happy you are in a better place so to speak!

Emily MacGruder said...

When you say you had a meal with 'kapa ika' I hope you just mean tuna and not the gross canned mackeral that I use as cat food.

John Taskett (Locke) in Tonga said...

Meow! Yup, Canned Mackerel. It's Bumble Bee brand, but the same stuff. But... mostly I'm eating broccoli, boneless skinless chicken breasts, etc. And all my canned tuna is the good albacore kind!

Sometimes I just miss the stuff from Tonga. Tonight I'm having Mangoes for desert again.

Carrie said...

Your comment about being in crowds of white people made me chuckle. When we moved to NYC, we moved into Harlem ... sort of has a better feeling for us.