friggin quiet! Aaahhh! To be young and in love in Paris! No!? Just kidding. Been back to the states for about 5 days now and I'm just a gaga with overwhelming whelmingness.

Alright, for the non-posting hiatus many of you have expereinced during the last couple of months I apologize. The reasons for my lack of posting are both multifarious and nebulous. The last two months of my life have been wrife with stress, guns and cigrettes. Alright, there really wasn't any guns, but stress and cigarettes have been clutch.

I've been reviewing the year and the amount of work I've done has been superhuman so far as I've been concerned. I've been bogged down with bull*#$% and blunderbusses. But I'm on the rebound.

I've actually been having a hell of time. The stress of Tonga was killing me. I've never felt so unable to do anything about my situation before and I have a hard time dealing with it. I'm an IT volunteer here in the kingdom and I've been busting my hump all year long to get my kids ready for New Zealand and getting them to move forward and learn more english and IT stuff that they actually need to know and all of that stuff, but I ended up teaching like 17 classes last year, 15 of them different subjects with no textbooks and/or minimal support to students that primarily speak a different language in a collegiate program that is on the brink of success/failure and I frazzled myself. Burnt to a crisp on work no love. Actually, let me set up the situation. Before I jog on down rant lane...

One of the primary reasons that I joined the Peace Corps was to initaite change. I know that's a hard cookie to eat for some people but I am of the ilk that if you change nothing than nothing changes. Now, I'm not looking to reinvent the wheel or bring spaceship mechanics to Tonga or even to raise the income so they can buy Escalades or anything of that sort, I'm just trying to do my best to promote goal number one of the three peace corps goals:

• To help the people of interested countries and areas in meeting their needs for trained workers;


• To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served;


• To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

Now, perhaps I'm a bit of dreamer and idealist and my imperialist capitalist ways are too embeded within me to actually evoke my deep seated beliefs in change, self-empowerment and the right to choose coke over pepsi, but I joined the peace corps for goal numero uno, taha pe, because that is what I believe, and more importantly, that is who I am. I feel that personally, I have committed so much of myself during this last year in trying to implement goal one that I have pushed too hard, worked too much and stressed too out that I just about scorched myself, but I was willing to make that sacrifice, to push that mile, because I believe that what I am doing is working, that the energy and the emotion that I have invested in my task at hand has energized my students and put the future of our program on a more solid footing. I am doing what I believe is the right thing. I am making a positive contribution in something that is sustainable and I am pretty sure, will long last beyond my service. Sustainability is a word that is thrown around a lot, spoken of in hushed tones at potlucks and conversed about over warm-doppleganger-ikales the world over, but something that is often out of reach or fundamentally unattainable. While I cannot gain sustainability of my program, as my service isn't over and I don't have the ability to look back and see the results for myself, under the current Tongan leadership of the program and the effort and skill of the limited teaching staff we do have, I am pretty confident that this is a program that will still be here.

Now, obviously, there are three goals to the Peace Corps and not one, so why don't I spend some more effort on numbers two and three? Well, rhetorical question, that is a very good point, why don't I? The truth be told learning culture is secondary to my primary task of training, and while I can't actually perform number one correctly without performing number two,

Before I proceed, please understand that each peace corps volunteers opinion of their service differs drastically amongst volunteers and that this is, of course, just one opinion that no other human or stem-cell in the entire world shares. In fact, this is a lie; A big fiction created in my head to justify why I purchased the last 98 degrees album. It is my opinion only and not meant to slander, discombulate, hurt, discredit, love or even purchase a cup of coffee for anyone. However, the Peace Corps is not a one man show. It is a huge organziation with levels upon tiers and tiers upon regions and regions upon beuracracy. So, I've complained about my workload and established my primary motivation for my dedication to my job and now onto my OPINIONS on how things are different and more difficult for me as a result of the organization.

Alright, so recently we had some people from Washington stop by and interview each of the volunteers to see what was working, what wasn't...

Update 5 months later... Wow! I don't feel like reading this now, but I'm going to post it anyway. What the hell. Whose got the looks? Whose got the brains? Whose got the everything? 1 comments - Post a Comment

• This is a posted Comment. Now, everything should be working so far as I can tell.
  
  Jim is a monkey masta! Blamm-diggity!
  
  Padow!
  # posted by Jim Jawn : 7/20/2005 1:49 PM

Friends! Family! Sometimes Acquantainces! Mafiosa! Enenmies with sworn Vendettas!

As you may or may not yet know I will be returning to the United States of America, departing today at 8:00 p.m. (tonga time) and arriving today (eastern standard time) at 11:58 p.m. The actually day that I will be arriving is Tuesday, December 14th and the actual time that I will be arriving is 11:51 p.m. The place that I will be arriving in is in Philadelphia.

Now I know that this may be confusing but that's okay because I will be travelling around the world so fast that I am actually making time go backwards, like superman in Superman III. Its okay for you guys because you won't feel anything, so don't worry. Just know that I'll be in Philly on Tuesday, December 14th at 11:51 p.m. I will also be leaving philadelphia on January 11th, so I'll be around for like solid month or so.

Now I know that this is last minute and stuff, but I just got my itenerary worked out yesterday and I'm just getting access to an internet that is working here now. My apologies oh doer of duels. Our time to joust lances must be postponed.

So, lets review...
- Time of Arrival (check)
- Time of Leaving (check)
- Excuse for Not Emailing Sooner (check)
- Place to Stay (unchecked)
- Ride from Airport (unchecked)
- Consumption of One Prov with (Pat's) (unchecked)
- Consumption of One American with (Geno's) and cheese fries (unchecked)

Now on the list above, you may or may not notice that I still have a few things to workout on my todo list. Namely, (1) a ride from the airport to (2) some destination where I can slumber blissfully from my tiring 'making time go backwards escapades' and (3) a stop off at 9th and Passyunk for carnal delights. What I'm looking for is a few volunteers to help out above with numbers 1 through 3 while I sort out my agenda and hide from the mafia. Any volunteers? I promise, I am much more compact than the last model and I generate a body heat of a balmy 98.6 degress and may actually reduce your heating costs! Seriously, I'm looking for a place to crash. And a ride from the airport. And a stop off at Pat's and Geno's. Please help.

Okay, appeal to christian charity has been covered. As you can imagine, there are a number of things living here in Tonga that I don't normally get access to or have here in the Kingdom. I have thought about these things numerous times in multiple situations. What I'm asking you, oh friends, family and even you, evil arch nemisis, is to help me fill out my list of stuff to do. Okay, I wrote a song about it, wanna here it, here it goes...

0.) Girls in haltertops - 'Nough said.
1.) Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream - Frequent Pints Dribbling from my chin.
2.) A steak - not just like a crappy sirloin, but like something I'd worry about my cholestrol just by looking at. It might moo.
3.) A game of texas hold'em with real american money - I don't have much, but I'd like to give it to a charity via spirited gambling
4.) Sushi - Yes. Raw fish dribbling in ginger sauce.
5.) Good Indian Food - One of the finest restaurants in the entire kingdom serves beautiful spicy indian food, but it is also tongan.
6.) Megan's feet - Just a peek.
7.) Cold, Delicious, Not Ikale, Beer - Lots of it. It can be bottled, canned, served in a box with a fox, on a plane in a train, i love my beer oh Sam I am
8.) Dinner at the Wellsboro Diner - Good Eggs, Good Hash... browns, and coffee
9.) A bacon egg and cheese sandwhich - Served by a grease truck in less than two minutes with a cup of instant coffee in the quintessentially american greek columned blue cup.
10.) Christmas dinner. - Served italian style with family.
11.) Lots and lots of movies that have been released during the last year - Served with popcorn, large coca-cola fountain sodas where the people attending don't speak another language while you are watching it.
12.) A laugh from Nicole - Just a giggle, that's all I'm asking fo.
13.) People who read this list, realize they are not on it, to not get mad at me for not remembering to add them to the list, not to get mad or to remind me that they weren't included on the list
14.) A trip to the whitehouse - where I can poop on its perfectly manacured lawn
15.) Other fun stuff as it occurs.

Alright, I'm creatively spent and prepping for the trip as we speak... I can't wait to see everyone and I'll see you soon. Love you all and ummmm.... yeah.

Jimbo 3 comments - Post a Comment

• This is my comment. Needed or course, to test stuff, like always... I'm easy like Sunday morning...
  # posted by Jim Jawn : 6/20/2005 10:51 PM

• Comment Number Two... This should be long and blah and blah and blah and Peace Corps and Tonga and blah and Jimjawn and jimjawn and tonga and highknee and blah and Tonga
  # posted by Jim Jawn : 6/20/2005 11:21 PM

• This is a posted comment! Isn't it beautiful!
  # posted by Jim Jawn : 7/20/2005 10:31 AM