millionaire

Hi!

I am really starting to come apart. Last night on the
bus I lost my newspaper and cell phone. This morning
I realized I'd left my pants outside to dry last night
and never brought them in. They weren't outside any
longer. So spent the morning grappling with the
reality of facing the day phoneless, paperless and
pantsless.

But things aren't often as bad as they initially seem
here. I had at least two other papers lying around
the house and it turned out that my neighbor had taken
my pants in from outside and hung them in the hallway.
They've done that for me half a dozen times now. I
had to buy a new phone but got to keep the same number
and it even still had money on it.

The phone system is a bit different here. Calling is
very expensive while texting is relatively cheap.
Almost no individuals have monthly calling plans, most
people by vouchers for $.50 or $1 or even $5 and then
use their phones until that money runs out at which
point we go buy another voucher. I didn't realize how
nice it is until I was home over Christmas and several
people explained to me how using Sprint is like
signing a contract with the devil.

Friday night is usually movie night and I was staning
under a brilliantly clear evening sky talking with
several science students about why my younger brother
is married with kids and I don't even have a
girlfriend ("but sir, you must have one in America"
"you know, if I had a woman in America I sure as hell
wouldn't be teaching in Tanzania" etc.). The table
for the tv was set up but then there was a long lull.
About 45 minutes later it was reported that the tv and
several other things had been stolen from the
Geography room. It was generally agreed that this was
improbably and if true could only have been done by
bribing the school guards. Which wouldn't be hard as
they make about $60/month. The few times I've seen
them in the morning they looked more well-rested than
I do.

I became a millionaire sometime last week so I
celebrated by buying a box of Snickers bars. This was
probably ill-advised, but I'm sure it's not the first
time someone with more money than they really need has
been led astray. I had gone into town to get money,
but after standing in the bank line for about 5
minutes I realized it wasn't moving at all, and it
took about 30 seconds to realize that the computers
weren't working. As the line was short I assumed this
had just happened and they would probably come on line
shortly. Half an hour later I realized such optimism
was silly and I left with about $2 to my name. After
walking around sullenly for awhile I tried a different
branch about an hour later and it was the easiest
thing I've ever done. I took my money, looked in
shock at all the decimal places in the balance, and
went on my way.

The president of Tanzania was recently in America for
a week. There was a big front-page picture of him
smilling and shaking hands with George Bush - who
seemed not sure of which camera he should be looking
at.

Hope all is well in America.
Ryan

Nothing is sometimes a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say.

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