Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2008
From: Michael Redman
Subject: GK COS Trip Update - 29 APR '08

Hey all, once again.

Here I am, ending the second segment of my COS trip. The last week-plus has been a blast, hanging out with Libby and Alicia and Alicia's friends here in Slovakia (and traveling to Prague with Libby while Alicia was stuck behind, trying to teach high-school-aged Slovaks a thing or two about English).

It's funny, in a few ways, it's still like I haven't left Niger. All along the coast (Togo & Ghana), I got to speak Zarma, and then this past week, I got to use Zarma with Libby & Alicia as a secret language (as many Slovaks and Czechs understand English quite well). And I'm living out of a backpack, with clothes from Niger, and all sorts of other reminders every time I open my bag or look in the mirror. (Where did all this hair on my head come from!?)

In most ways, of course, it feels like Niger is a million miles away. The rain everywhere I go (Accra, Casablanca, London, Bratislava, Prague, Vienna), the crisp weather on some days and the glorious— and not at all painful—sun on others, the buildings, the shops, the houses, the cars, the food (esp. pork products) and beer, the general cleanliness and orderliness—all are a long ways indeed from Safatane and, for that matter, Niamey.

More distressing is the idea that Niger seems so far away, in all senses, already. How can a place that was so familiar over three years begin to recede from my consciousness so quickly?

I guess those are issues I can deal with when I get home. For now, I'm enjoying the last taste of PC friendships on this trip, the ridiculous jokes, ribald Zarma humor, and trashy television (The Hills, anyone?), and getting excited for the next stage of the journey, as I wind my way down to Croatia, via Budapest and Slovenia. Here's hoping relying on English will work out, as it has… pretty much this whole trip. It's good to have been born in the world's cultural superpower! I feel like I don't have enough time to see everything (I don't), but at the same time, I definitely don't have enough money to travel indefinitely, so I think it'll be just enough to whet my appetite and still go home satisfied.

Write me back when you get the chance, I'll be checking my email from time to time.

- GK

Rough outline: Budapest (thru 2 May), Ljubljana (thru 4 May), Lake Bled / Bohinj (thru 6'ish May), Zagreb & coast (fly out 10 May to London). Inch'allah.


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