GREAT article.  read here.

"sarah palin and her virtual burqa have me and my friends retching into our handbags. she's such a power-mad, backwater beauty-pageant casualty, it's easy to write her off and make fun of her...

she is dangerous. she is not just pro-life, she's anti-life. she is the suppression of human feeling and instinct. she is a slave to the compromises dictated by her own desire for power and control...

she should be a galvanizing point for women everywhere. not to support her candidacy but to rebel against the republican party and take back the respect and equality so hard-earned by the women's liberation movement in the 1970s."

dear all,

well...

*IM HOME!* 

YAY!  i'm an R.P.C.V.!! (returned peace corps volunteer, homies.) two years in the peace corps -- CHECK.  one life goal down!

i flew back from steamy dar es salaam to the even-steamier florida a few days ago, and since then, i've been relaxin with the blue-hairs down in my favorite retirement community.  i can't believe it's only been a week since i left my mt. kilimanjaro home, and, truthfully, i feel a bit stunned.  life is so different here.  i guess i'm a little overwhelmed and still processing.  alot of returned peace corps volunteers say that readjusting back to the united states is the hardest part of service, and i can kinda see why someone might say that.  i've definitely noticed that people's eyes glaze over a bit when i start babbling on about 'tanzania this, tanzania that,' but i don't really have anything else to talk about.  

in other news, i've decided that american squirrels are possibly the cutest thing ever.  and, that said, i hereby nominate them to be voted 'national rodent'.  seriously.  squirrles are the best.  i kinda forgot all about them.

also, i've noticed that americans are kinda chubby.  dude.  i'm not sure what's in the water over here (do we melt butter into it?), but we're a country of porkers.  ok.  to be fair, i flew into the detroit airport, which might not be as fit a geographic locale as, say, l.a., but still.  americans could squash tanzanians. 

so...  just to preemptively answer the question i've gotten about 34 times already, here's what i'm going to do next:

sleep, sleep, sleep, read, travel (florida - vegas - cleveland - iowa), run a half marathon, get a job, apply to law school, get accepted to law school, study environmental law, rock out a j.d., be the positive change i wish to see in the world, keep it real

oh, and one more thing.  or, i suppose, 150 more things.  in the peace corps, i read 150 books.  yep.  call me captain nerd bags.  but, i kept a list, since whenever i read the book title, i remember exactly where i was and what i was doing.  so, this book list is a MOST EXCELLENT way for me to remember my peace corps service.  and, while i put it up here mainly for personal reasons, i thought maybe people would be interested.  i bolded the best reads on the list. 

i'm off.  i have a hot date at the olive garden with my stepdad.

hugs,

cynthia

the broker -- john grisham (read on the plane ride to africa)

extremely loud and incredibly close -- johnathan safron foer (favorite book i've read ... ever)

the lady and the unicorn -- tracy chevalier

white teeth -- zadie smith

the poisonwood bible -- barbara kingsolver

the curious incident of the dog in the night-time -- mark haddon (sublime, comic, endearing)

three junes -- julia glass

brothers and sisters -- bebe moore campbell

hard laughter -- ann lamont

surrender the pink -- carrie fisher

the never-ending story -- michael ende and ralph manheim

the oxford murders -- guillermo martinez and sonia soto

east of eden -- john steinbeck (so good i read it twice)

summers child -- luanne rice

waltzing the cat -- pam houston

angels and demons -- dan brown

the gunslinger -- steven king

the cat and the curmudeon -- cleveland avory

a walk to remember -- nicholas sparks

huck finn -- mark twain

snow falling on cedars -- david guterson

fear of flying -- erica jong (a bit of a pervy read, really)

four sided bed -- elizabeth searle

harry potter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 -- j.k. rowling (i'm counting these all as one ... they're more entertaining than t.v.)

middle sex -- jeffrey eugenides (totally compelling, un-put-down-able; i read it twice)

the perfect elizabeth -- libby schmais

the lifegaurd -- james patterson

cranberry queen -- kathleen demarco

getting rid of bradley -- jennifer cruise (worst novel ever read?)

the eligible bachelor -- unknown author (wait no, THIS is the worst novel ever read)

everything is illuminated -- johnathan safron foer (it's not a book so much as art.  i read this puppy twice.  he's hands down my favorite author.)

there is no me without you -- melissa fay green

the playboy articles -- playboy magazine

reading lolita in tehran: a memoir in books -- azar nafisi

song of solomon -- toni morrison (this woman doesn't write; she sings.) 

where i'm calling from -- raymond carver

the fountain head -- ann rand

the lovely bones -- alice shebold

hamlet -- shakespeare

balzac and the little chinese seamstress -- dai sijie and ina rilke

the lord of the flies -- william golding

the dorthy parker anthology

tell me your dreams -- sidney sheldon (pretty awful stuff)

lolita -- vladimir nabokov (fantastically distrubing)

left bank -- kate muir

the growing pains of adrian mole -- sue townsend

angela's ashes -- frank mccourt (i'm in love with the way this guy writes)

the center of everything -- laura mauriarty

everything you need to be impossibly french: a witty investigation into the lives, lusts, and little secrets of french women -- helena frith-powell (i found this book to be an incredibly useful read in the middle of my little african village...)

the rules for saying goodbye -- katherine taylor

into thin air: a person account of the mt. everest disaster -- joh  krakaur

the great gatsby -- f.scott fitzgerald

can you keep a secret -- sophie kinsella

nothern lights -- nora roberts

like water for chocolate -- laura esquivel

flight lessons -- patricia gaffney

artistic license -- julia hyzy

daughter of fortune -- isabell allende

the paino tuner -- daniel mason

running with scissors -- augusten burroughs

seven sunny days -- chris manby

the brothers' grimm fairy tales

1984 -- george orwell

the handmaid's tale -- margaret atwood

cryptonomicon -- neal stephenson

memoirs of a geisha -- arthur golden

the kite runner -- khaled hosseini  (this books echoes when you close it)

the grapes of wrath -- john steinbeck (i found interesting parallels between present day tz and depression era us)

left behind -- tim lahaye and jerry b. jenkins

tender is the night -- f. scott fitzgerald

the autograph man -- zadie smith

fortunes rocks -- anita shreve

the girl with the pearl earring -- tracy chevalier

the horse whisperer -- nicholas evans

the zanzibar chest -- aiden hartley

before i say goodbye -- mary higgens clark

summer sisters --  judy blume (one of my favorite novels growing up)

the pilot's wife -- anita shreve

everyone worth knowing -- lauren weisberger

the birth of venus -- sarah dunant

lipstick jungle -- candace bushnell

the devil wears prada -- lauren weisberger

simply divine -- wendy holden

this must be love -- kasey michaels (worst book i've ever read?)

the forger -- paul watkins

bella tuscany -- francis mayes

ten little indians -- sherman alexie

a crowded marraige -- catherine alliot

the surrendered single -- laura doyle (this turned out to be a self-help book ... whoops)

house of sand and fog -- andre dubus iii

candy: a novel of love and addiction -- luke davies

me and mr. darcy -- alexandra potter

master butchers singing club -- louis erdrich

life of pi -- yann martel (beyond good, past great)

the constant gardener -- john le carre

where the heart is -- bettie letts

judge and jury -- john patterson

the valley of secrets -- charmian hussey and christopher crump

falling leaves: a memoir of an unwanted chinese daughter --  adeline yen mah  

infidelity for first time fathers -- mark barrowcliffe (horrible book.  i feel bad for the paper.)

the silver rose -- susan carrol (so bad it's good?  hmm.)

the andromeda strain -- michael crichton

pride and prejudice -- jane austen (although i've been compared to lydia, i still adore adore adore this book (and besides, im totally an elizabeth).  it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife)

one flew over the coocoo's nest -- ken kesey

midnight in the garden of good and evil -- john berent

to kill a mockingbird -- harper lee (picking a favorite character in this book is impossible, since i love them all.)

mao's last dancer -- li cunxin

living single -- holly chamberlin

shopoholic ties the knot -- sophie kinsella

devil in the white city: murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed america --  erik larson

the quickie -- james patterson (this book was really really popular among my teachers mostly 'cause there was a nakked lady on the book cover.)

the apothecary's house -- adrien matthews

the chosen -- chiam potok

eat, pray, love: one woman's search for everything in italy india, indonesia -- elizabeth gilbert

the bone garden -- tess gerritson

a wrinkle in time -- madeline l'engel (this novel single-handedly shaped how i view spirituality as a child.)

anne of windy poplars -- l.m. montgomery

in her shoes -- jennifer weiner

while i was gone -- sue miller

at first sight -- nicholas sparks

water for elephants -- sara gruen (i'm a sucker for a great story.)

joy luck club -- amy tan

atonement -- ian mcewan (heartbreakingly good; i cried through the end.)

river's end -- nora roberts

the glass castle: a memoir -- jeannette walls

four blondes -- candace bushnell

she's falling apart -- i cant find the author, but i didnt much like this book anywho.

a place called here -- cecilia ahern

rapture of canaan -- sheri reynolds

maybe a miracle -- brian strause

1000 splendid suns -- kahled hosseini

a painted house -- john grisham

'tis -- frank mccourt

you've been warned -- james patterson

the secret life of bees -- sue monk kidd

jailbird -- kurt vonnegut

the shack -- william p. young, wayne jacobsen, and brad cummings

my life with the chimpanzees -- jane goodall

friday night knitting club -- kate jacobs

sweetness in the belly -- camilla gibb

zazoo -- richard mosher

anne of green gables -- l.m. montgomery (gilbert blythe, the ideal man and my first childhood crush)

slaughterhouse 5 -- kurt vonnegut

ella minnow pea: a novel in letters -- mark dunn

my sister's keeper -- jodi piccoult (read on the plane ride back home)

ten crimes of sarah palin. pssst -- this woman is the STINK.

our new presumed republican vice president nominee makes me laugh. 

CRIME NUMERO 1:

the lady is NOT GOOD for the polar bears.  seriously, she chose not to reup their status to endagered.  she stinks.  polar bears do not.  well, im sure they smell pretty bad, but sarah smells worse. 

CRIME NUMERO 2:

she's an active member of the n.r.a. and embodies all stereotypes implied herewithin.  shoot em up, boot her out.

CRIME NUMERO 3:

she doesn't believe humans cause global warming.  nine out of ten doctors agree she's an idiot.  as do nine out of ten geologists / environmental scientists / feminisits / mathmeticians / monkeys / and vertically challenged persons.

CRIME NUMERO 4:

she wants to open up the alaska national wildlife refuge to enable her husband (a BP executive) to put the downpayment on their summer home in tahiti.  good thing her summer home isn't in zanzibar, or she'd meet my fists of fury on vacation.  we're talking nude, violent protest on her front lawn, my friends.  which is, in fact, a startingly white display as any of my skin between the shoulders and knees has not seen sun for two years.  TAKE THAT, PALIN!

CRIME NUMERO 5:

she opposed the consitutional amendment to acknowledge gay marraige. i know lots of people who'll bitch slap her for this.  drag queens of anchorage, unite!

CRIME NUMBERO 6:

she's previously said she's 'as pro-life as anyone can get'.  in fact, she does not support abortions even in cases of rape and / or incest unless the pregnancy jeopardises the mother's physical health.  good thing our modern medical system does not acknowledge psychological and emotional health as important to our wellbeing.  (um, wait....)  maintaining LIFE rules all.  which leads us directly to number seven...

CRIME NUMERO 7:

sarah palin supports the death penalty.  yes, folks, an eye for an eye, that holy book fortold, and let us in modern society obey.  of course, according to sarah, the child brutally raped by her father cannot control her own body and must bear the bruised fruit of his tainted loins, but society has every right to inject said father with several thousand volts of electric energy to the brain.  logic reins supreme.

CRIME NUMERO 8:

mz palin supports the teaching of creationism in public schools.  good thing our founding fathers died, or they'd scratch their heads wondering why church and state became schnoogly spooning partners, snoogling in political bed together.  and, friends, really...  if we remember the fluffly locks topping mr. franklin's head, he really ought not be scratching his head and possibly diminishing what little hair folicles would remain.

CRIME NUMERO 9:

sarah supported mr. bush in iraq, saying we ought to take (insert redneck twang here) "take the war to the terrorists".  (ok, let's pause for a hot second and admit she realizes the war is about energy, but still.)  good thing saddam hussein was the head of al qaeda.  or, hmm.  where's afganistan, again?

CRIME NUMERO 10 (AKA, THE GOLDEN OVARIAN EGG):

like many of her GOP fellows, sex education in schools seems unecessary, and sarah feels these lifeskills ought to be instilled by firm parental upbringing.  however, she firmly supports gun safety education for minors within the public school sector.  curiously, in four short months, ms palin's nubile, yet-to-wed, 17 yr old daughter (intriguingly named bristol) will welcome a charming new addition to her morally conscious family.  one must wonder how sarah's future son-in-law understood the mechanics of his rifle (possibly for all those hunting expeditons to shoot overpopulated wolves) but failed to grasp the workings of his own sex pistol.  he shoots, he scores!!  seems to me, sarah (and her new young mother) will need to work together to raise this new baby.  is now really the time to be second in-command of an entire country?  hmm. 

essay competitions are fun

dear friends,

not only is time flying, but lately, ive begun to think time's put on a pair of turbojet boosters.  im lookin at roughly 40 some days left on this side of the world, and, while im (eagerly) looking forward to a box spring mattress and a bagel, im realizing all the things i will miss (sincerely, wholeheartedly MISS) about tanzania.

i'm a tad short on internet time today (given i've spent the bulk of it researching potential careers upon my return), but i thought i'd give a sampling of essays my students have been writing in **teacher cynthia's weekly essay competition**. while the first essay is a blatant attempt to flatter the teacher and win the competition, it also, however, pretty much encapsulates why i've loved my time overseas.

all my best,

cynthia

p.s., in tanzania, to call someone fat is the same as calling someone beautiful.  in a country with prevelant HIV/AIDS, calling someone skinny or saying someone has lost alot of weight is actually unflattering. 

and p.p.s, i dunno why the formatting is all wonky.

If I could be another person for one day, I would be Teacher Cynthia.  I like to be like teacher Cynthia because I like her very much.  She is white in color.  She is tall and fat.  She is a beautiful teacher in our school.  I like her very much because she speaks English to us when she enter in the class. 

The thing which makes me like her is the way she teaches us.  She knows to teaches students.  She knows very well the subject in our school.  She teaches two subject.  These are mathematics and chemistry.  In form 1, she teaches us mathematics.  In form 3, she teaches them chemistry.  She knows mathematic and chemistry more than other subjects.

I like to be like her because she wants us to practice to speak English.  She tells us that practice makes perfect in our life.  I like to be a teacher because I like the way she teach us in our school.  I study hard because hard work pays.  The subject which I like is English in all my subject, and I must study hard in order to know how to speak English and write.  I study hard in order to be like teacher Cynthia.  If God wishes, I will be like her.

--Sabina S. Moyo Form 1 A

If I could be another person for one day, I would be a writer of story like Eric Shigongo because I love the story he writes.  The stories are interesting and can make any one happy even when he/she is sad.  To write a story is my dream and I always dream about that, and I think one day I will be a good writer like Eric, and everyone will love the story which I am going to write.  I love to write the story which is relevant to our life because, as you know, now many writers like love stories only, but for me, I will mix love story and other story like the story of our country and other thing more than this.  Always when I don’t have something to do, I just feel like writing something which come on my mind everyday.

In my life, if I will get the chance to see Eric face to face, I would like to tell him that I love the stories he writes and maybe I can show him some of my stories.  I am sure he is going to love it.  I would like to thank God who makes me feel better and gives me this chance to know that if I get a chance even now I am sure I am going to write a good story everyone will love it, and thanks to my parents and my teachers and also my friends.

--Monica K. Mkwizu Form 1 A

It is true that most of people like good things, and I like people who are doing good things and not bad things.  For myself, I like people who have good relationships with each other.  And I like people who do the following things: people who understand and help each other.  People who like me when or if I have a problem.

 Some people do bad thing such as bad relationship (sex) under small age, smoking, thief, but I like most people who can avoid bad things as well as who try to give good education for the others who may be destroyed by some of these bad thing.

I like people who need changes and development time to time.  For example, I like people who discover thing that can lead to changes and development for his/herself and the rest of other people, and that change may cover a large area in turn social, political, economic, as well as cultural.

Education is a good thing I like for one or all people to have because it will be easy to change the society.  I like people who have good knowledge cause it will be easy to get good things from him or her.

But also, I like people who love people as they are and not who love people for the things they have and segregate those who do not have.  I meant whether they are poor, he or she must take the same consideration to all.

--Omari R. Pazi, Form 1 C

If I could be another person for one day, I would be Margreti Sitta (the Mistress of Education) because I want to help students get education.  If you want to get a job, you want to study because education is the key of life; so you must study.  Margreti Sitta is one of the good women in the country because she wants to help all students in the county.  I would be Margreti Sitta.  One day, I will be happy if my dream come true because this woman is good.

 If I will be Margreti Sitta, I want to put rights for all humans in a country together.  I want to get education then to recede the poor humans in the country.  In the country, the poor humans are too much.  And I want to help the orphans because I am orphan.  My dream one day, one time will be true.

--Zulfa Kizamba, Form 1 C

 My name is Ghuhiaeli E. Mbonea.  I stay in Mwanga. 

 If I could be another person for one day, I would be president Mwalimu J.K. Nyerere because president Julius Kambarage Nyerere made development in our country.  So I will study very hard in our subject in order to be a president of Tanzania.  If I would be president, I will make development.  So I want to be a part of the developments in our country.

I communicate that we must be true to ourselves.  We have the guts to speak truth because by doing so we can bring about change, and I am not deceiving people.

Without president Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, we would have no freedom in Tanganyika; so I want to continue our developments in our country and I will help widows and people with HIV/AIDS to get food and clothes and education to their families.

And I believe one day I will be a president and I will be happy if I will pass my examination of form 2 and form 4; so I will study very hard on everyday so I would be a president of Tanzania.

--Ghuhiaeli E. Mbonea