Today, I am titleless

I think there is something wrong with the rooster that lives next door—he woke up late and was very quite the rest of the morning. I was dying for him to shut the hell up, but now I feel bad…

Henry picked me up today to take me to the JCRC. He takes primarily back roads because traffic is so bad in town that it can two hours to pass all of it. That usually works out well. Today we hit a dead stop while passing through. After about 15 minutes we had moved close enough to see what happened—there was a traffic accident directly in the center of the intersection. A dinged up pick-up truck was surrounded by a group of men and police all arguing with each other and madly pointing in various directions. A full hour later we finally got to the JCRC.

What ensued was the biggest free for all that I have ever seen in my life. I couldn’t stop laughing which made Henry starting giggling. Since there are no traffic lights, cars were attempting to pass through the intersection from all four directions at the exact same time. This led you to have perfectly straight view through the windshield of the car directly pointed at you. And meanwhile there were bodas zipping in and out of everywhere like bumble bees. I tried to photograph it the best I could. When I got home I told John, and he said that it is illegal to take a policeman’s picture without getting permission and I could get arrested. Good to know.

Work was enjoyable today, although it got really busy in the afternoon and I had a hard time getting to the equipment I needed to do the extractions. It’s nice to be doing lab work again, as opposed to what I have been doing for the past couple months—my most favorite thing, science writing. I went to lunch with some of the girls today and it was a riot. They were all comparing stories about their experiences traveling to Europe and the States with the differences in culture and food. Oddly, they all came to the same conclusions about the French…

I was sitting outside and a boy came up to me named Lawrence. He said he was 13, then 14, but he was so tiny he looked no more than 10 years old. He said he was there getting his meds. When I inquired if that was his mother approaching us, he said no, that his mom was dead. Then he asked for my phone number and if I could take him back to America with me. I did the only thing I could think to do-- give him some chocolate and tell him I hoped to see him again.

The nicest man on Earth, George, picked me up from the lab again today, and not surprisingly wanted to talk about the McCain and Obama. When I got home John had cooked me the yummiest meal and now I am sitting on the couch like a stuffed pig, barely able to move.

Here are some pictures from the traffic accident. Notice all the people pointing in different directions. Then there’s Henry, my sweet driver. Last is Sophie, a master’s student in the lab. She’s just gotten her hair done and was looking all pretty.

xo...G.