The best way I can think of to give you an idea of the weather Burkina Faso is experiencing right now is to provide an excerpt from a breakfast conversation I had with my host mother the morning after the first night I decided not to use the fant that's in my room. Here's a rough translation:
Her: During the day it's not cold, but at night it's cold!
My response: Mmmmm. No, at night it's not hot, but during the day it's hot!
Living here, I miss more than anything else the temperate climate that I'm used to. I missed seeing leaves orange, yellow, and red. I miss frost and snow and ice-covered mailboxes.
I also miss studying and going to classes. The printer in my office doesn't get used much for work. The most recent things it's printed: an article on game theory, and 6 pages from an online textbook concerning the differences between the classical doppler effect and its relativistic corrections.
A quick non-person list of things I miss (that I haven't just mentioned):
- grass
- being able to say almost exactly what I mean
- air conditioning
- Mario Kart Wii
- living somewhere with a computer lab and a library
- Markio Kart Double Dash
- cheese
- Mario Kart '64
This was unintentional, but the list is probably pretty much in that order. Using numbers instead of bullets wouldn't have been misleading.
*wonders if he'll ever have a chance to turn the phrase "numbers, not bullets!" into a chant.*
Next time I organize a Mathematicians Against War rally...
I like the chant :)
ReplyDeleteThere's not much grass in Phoenix, either - I never anticipated it, but it's amazing how much different the landscape feels! I'm also not sure if I can handle life without cheese - I'm ashamed to say that today's breakfast was basically a mid-size block of cheddar... Next time you're in Phoenix or I'm in Kansas, we'll tell travel stories over a cheese plate, ok?
I bet the stars out there are amazing, though... And with the internet, we're all right here for you, no matter where we all are.
It got down to 19 degrees last night. It's 33 this evening -- Sunday. It's misting right now. We are expecting sleet turning to snow tonight and tomorrow. Ice-covered mailboxes are over-rated (You're the only person I know that appreciates them, but they're still over-rated).
ReplyDeleteDo you remember that I worked on Doppler radars before becoming a drill sgt. in the Army? I'm interested in what you learned about relativistic correctons of the Doppler effect. I'm glad you're making good use of the printer.
How often do you get to take a cold shower?
"Next time you're in Phoenix or I'm in Kansas, we'll tell travel stories over a cheese plate, ok?"
ReplyDeleteYes. Yes, yes.
I take a cold shower any time I it's cold and I shower... maybe I don't understand the question. My host family has the means to heat water (carry it inside, put it on the stove for a while) so I might use warm water if it's ever so cold I feel the need to do that.
Shower probably isn't the right word to communicate how I get clean to people who don't know. Sponge bath might be a more accurate term.
Hey Blake! Do you miss snow? You could make lots of snow angels right now, if you were here. I don't see snow on your list of things you miss though.
ReplyDeleteYou have air conditioning in your office!!! How can you possibly miss what you still have? I have no pity for you at all. I am jealous, the church has nothing but a fan and a computer, which depend on electricity being not cut off.
ReplyDeleteI may point out that you also have a computer and a library, small and outdated tho the library may be. I travel across town to your office to borrow use of both
I am with you on grass, saying what you mean and cheese, though.