The ocean is a magical place

Full of odd things.
I know because I have recently seen the evidence.
Did you know that starfish bring their stomachs to their mouths to digest things?
Did you know that sea turtles practice nesting before they actually lay the eggs?
Or that there is a cone snail that can kill you with a venomous harpoon?
Manta rays can get up to 18 feet across - can you even imagine a manta ray that big? And if the ocean generates whales, and giant mantas, and giant turtles, and giant squid, maybe there are also giant starfish, and giant seahorses. Wouldn't that be neat?

Anyway I think the ocean is grand. Recently back from the Great Barrier Reef. I saw sea turtles crawling up on shore to flap around a bit before heading back in. They are with eggs currently but not laying just yet. The shorelines were covered in rays (though not giant) and reef sharks, the reef was covered with squiggly lipped clams and coral with bits of glowing color. I am glowing red on the backside- and everytime I feel a bit of burn I am reminded of my own unexplainable negligence.
I think this might be called the snorklers burn.

i heart australia - or i plan to at least

San Francisco gave me shin aches and a working knowledge of bicycle repair. Well, to be fair, it was more of Alan then San Fran that gifted me the bike knowledge. Now I am sufficiently prepared to blunder my way through a bike related crisis. Did you know that the spokes can be adjusted and are actually rather important? I didn't know it before. I think I never thought of their reason past decorative.

Anyhow Australia is grand - though I have been here for maybe 7 hours and am experiencing it through the haze of the under rested. I knew this was my kind of place when I learned how much they make up funny names for things. And reading Bill Bryson's travel book on the place only fuels my fondness because really the place is so absurd and has always been so.

Fly Qantas - they give you hot towels and goodie bags. Since I have been in Australia I tried to get the phrase "nibbliees" to catch on for what some call "snacks." No success thus far.

oy I'm tired.

editing suggestiong courtesy of carolyn c campbell

I am officially in unofficial training for the Peace Corps.

This self-conscripted training consists mainly of eating things that have fallen on the floor, breaking in my pricey walking sandals, and filling out forms. When I fall asleep at night I try to imagine that I have only a straw roof above my head and honestly it at first felt more like being on a raft in the middle of the ocean. But then Rose and I slept out with only the stars to cover us and now I feel more willing to embrace my self as a child of the wild.

Keli: And really how many people get to live in a hut?... well I guess all those Africans do...
Lex: Yeah, nobody. Except all those millions of Africans.

Anyway, I am also picking up all sorts of other lessons for my bag of tricks. For Instance: in Vermont I learned that when traveling by bike with groceries - it is NOT wise to hold the bag near the front wheel less you want your flour and sugar spilt all over the parking lot. By way of Rose I know that many odd things taste good in pie form, so perhaps do not immediately rule out mince mice meat as a favorite. I encountered a snake on my run and effectively charmed it into submission by not bothering it. I have discovered how my nimble little fingers can shimmy up a rock wall if by chance an angry rhino has cornered me against a bluff. I know how to shoot a .22, and am prepared to defend myself in case an empty coffee cup ever threatens me. Supposing of course there is a handy .22 around. And when I get back from Australia I will be able to surf and punch a kangaroo in the face, so THAT will be taken care of. Hopefully I will not know how to punch a great white shark in the face.

Keli: Oh look an African Market! I should go stand in there. You know, to get acquainted.
Ty: Make sure you stand in the Southern part of the store.

Plus all my wonderful friends are supplying me with book lists, or music lists, or items-to-take-to-Africa lists, or oodles of cds, or bike fixing tips, or news that the plague actually has a vaccine and treatment, or contacts in or around or recently back from Zambia, or well wishes and encouragement, which are as good as diamonds.

Several people asked if I am excited and yes I am. I asked for Africa. I have heard/read only good things about the program I will be working with: Learning at Taonga Market, which is overseen by the Ministry of Education. It is learning through interactive radio programs to make education more accessible to remote villagers. There is also a scarcity of trained teachers due to AIDS. My job will not be teaching but helping to coordinate this program in a certain area. I have heard from a Peace Corps volunteer recently returned from Zambia that this is a wonderful place to be a volunteer. This assignment fits my qualifications and I will be able to work with children without teaching them directly. Which is really what I wanted. And if I love what I am doing I think it will not matter so much that I have other neglected comforts.

I will probably love living in a hut. Living in a hut will be good for me. And not being a little baby might not be so bad for me either.

I suppose what apprehensions I have about the living conditions come mainly from a deep-seated question about my own resolve - because I often choose not to run up hills. But I give myself too little credit for being adaptable. I am more likely to laugh than cry. And maybe Zambia will teach me to love the hill, as Rose says, even when I hate the hill.

Or PERHAPS Zambia will tell me that walking up the hill still gets you up the hill. So shut up.

Who knows. Wonders will unfold. There is no way to prepare.