small talk

sometimes I get really annoyed when I have to explaining this adventure to people. I was at the dentist today, and I've been going there since I was really little, so they've known me forever and they started asking a lot about the Peace Corps. (they did all the x-rays, so i knew this was coming) Now small talk at the dentist is never easy - it's tough to make a complicated point when there are sharp metals things in your mouth - but I think it's even more difficult when I'm trying to explain my completely foreign job. It's hard to explain something I haven't started yet, something that I don't fully understand, something that I have thousands of different emotions about. It's also annoying when people ask questions, but in a really ignorant way like "well at least you won't have to spend much money there, cuz what would you spend it on?!" and i just want to go into a total tirade about how actually there are lots of wonderful tourist destinations and beautiful things to spend money on. But then I think that it's probably not even worth it to try and summarize all the many things I've read in less than a minute in between rinses. I wish people were more educated about the diversity of Africa, but I can't be the person who changes every opinion. First of all, I'm not qualified (who really is?), and second of all, I wish people wanted to learn these things by themselves. Although I can't expect everyone to be as curious about Africa as I am, after all, I don't know very much about the vast area of the former USSR, or South America or Physics or Cars, to name a few things.

In other news, I've started laying out my clothes, I've got basically everything I need, things are coming together. Also, I'm reading "The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman which I have wanted to read since it came out a few months ago. It's SO interesting. I'm learning a lot about modern engineering, material properties, climate history and geography. It also includes a pretty hefty amount of archaeology, which I've always loved, and it's neat to see applied archaeology used in this way. Weisman interviewed so many different types of experts that it's turning out to be a very balanced and complete analysis. I heartily recommend it.