Kale and Kafka OR "How I learned to love the book"

So many books, so little time...

I'm not sure why but lately I've been more up for reading books. I never wanted to read when I was younger. It wasn't until I was in sophomore year of high school that I had an urge to pick up a book. It was "The Interpretation of Dreams" by Sigmund Freud. I recall simply wanting to learn something. It started with non-fiction. That was all I could find use for. I remember thinking how useless it would be to read a book if it wasn't actually true. What's the point? It wasn't until after college that I read my first fiction book for fun. I had been forced to read many books while in school. I hardly ever enjoyed the experience, and quite often skimmed over the books just enough to pass my classes. Most of my association with reading had to do with heavy topics like the Holocaust, the Depression, or racism. Although these are very important topics, I wasn't very interested in such things in my pre-teen (or even teenage) years. I didn't know that books could be entertaining and therefore interesting. I wasn't aware that I could be transformed to another world and could use my imagination to picture the life and world of another - to see life from a different point of view. No one told me how entertaining reading could be.

When I was in the 2nd grade, I remember getting the scholastic book club catalog at school. It was a way for us kids to order books through a simple order form. The books would be delivered to the school and our parents would pay the bill. Not once did I ever want to order any book. But I soon found that they also sold stickers, and so I started asking my parents to get me stickers so I could get a package on delivery day to our class. It made me feel special and "part of."

In fourth grade we had to read a book and write a book report. My classmates read books like "Rising Sun" and "1984." I picked up a random Tony Hillerman book about mystery about a Native American. I never actually read the book, but read the first paragraph of each chapter and the last chapter of the book. I BS'ed the rest. I hated reading. I put it off every time. I did read one book in its entirety. 'Catcher in the Rye' was that book. Something about the seedy nature of it and the extremely-depressing tone appealed to me. I re-read that book twice in high-school. Despite the miracle I experienced with JD Salinger's novel, I always had a hard time remembering what I read, and details and facts about the book. This much was clear, I was a bad book reader. I'm not sure if I still am, but I sure do read with more enthusiasm and excitement.

I think this was the missing piece. I really needed to find out how to love books. Kind of like teaching one how to love vegetables. Usually this depends on the context of initial and subsequent exposure to the stimuli. For me, books were about depression and depressing things that I found confusing. What's worse is that there was always a test or report associated with each literary exposure. I began to associate books with pain and fear. In 2008 I randomly picked up a Harry Potter book. I watched one of the films, and thought that it sounded like a fun story, so I read the series. It was so exciting to have such a fun story that had a fast pace and offered a reality clearly different than my own. It provided the perfect diversion, which is exactly what I needed at the time. Upon finishing the 7th book of the series, I was excited to start another book. This time I thought I'd read a different genre, so I picked up Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. I really related to the author and could begin to see through metaphor, and other literary tools that eluded me as a kid.

Reading had turned into something different. It was an enjoyable activity. I really have JK Rowling to thank for that. She made reading fun for me. She didn't judge me like many other people had through my life for not taking to books. One would have thought I was a leper being a non-avid reader at UC Berkeley. God forbid! No, miss Rowling accepted me as I was, apathetic and uninterested, yet curious and willing. She took me to another place, and I was so happy to discover that even I could be a "reader."

From there I would alternate between fiction and non-fiction, between mystery, fantasy, and historical fiction. It has been a long journey, but back in 1992, I hated Lettuce and Lewis . It's 2015, and I now love both kale and Kafka. :-)

Family, Friends and a Filibuster

In front of some house

So... I was sent back to the US for a month for a medical issue (turned out to be nothing, so I'm very glad). Since I was in the US, and was what I call a "walking wounded," I decided to take advantage of my "forced vacation."
First I have to say that the most common fear in Peace Corps (from what I gather from my fellow PCV's) is being sent home before the end of service. When I was told that I needed to go back for a while, I was less than happy to say the least. I was only 14 months into my 27 months of service. It was hard emotionally, as the process was not clear and I had a lot of unanswered questions. Harder than that, I felt that my medical decisions were being made by my employer - a scary concept. To make things even more nerve-wrecking, my employment status was contingent on how their assessment would go before 45 days of 'med-evac' were up. 

Back in Albania!

A common theme in my peace corps service is that I have to be flexible and just try to navigate every situation that comes up. There isn't always an easy answer for problems. Such as in life in general. So as I waited in my apartment in Eastern Albania for the PC Washington office to decide what to do, I was sitting with a lot of feelings. Fear of what the future will hold. Since I am 9 hours ahead of my friends and family in California, I don't always get to contact them when I would like. Hardship.

Luckily I have some good Peace Corps friends that I can call. Sometimes I need help, sometimes they do. Making close friends as an adult can be harder than it seems. Which is why I really value any new friend I make in Peace Corps. Locals or other Americans. I really rely on my local social network in times like these.

So what did I do for a month? Helping out at the Peace Corps Office in DC with LGBT initiatives (they have a great team there!), going on medical visits, and coordinating some projects in Albania (remotely that is!)... and:
1. Lots of reading! Favorite was Carlos Castaneda's Return to Ixtlan
2. Ran the National Mall listening to Belle and Sebastian's 'Dear Catastrophe Waitress'
3. Ran to Maryland along the beautiful C&O Towpath to The Decemberists
4. Ate cheddar cheese, Mexican and Chinese food as much as possible. Went to Trader Joe's every day. haha
5. Did a family reunion and spent time reconnecting with my family, and even meeting some new cousins! A lot of my family lives in the Maryland area, so I really lucked out there.
6. Went to the US Capitol, sat in on the Patriot Act expiration session with Sen. Paul. Tried not to laugh as I heard someone's cell phone (someone on the floor!) go off during Sen. Paul's last speech - It was "Let It Go" from Disney's Frozen. LOL
7. Holocaust Museum, Newseum, Portrait Gallery, ALL Memorials, the Archives, saw the Magna Carta, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and the Constitution., Hope Diamond (at Smithsonian Museum of Natural History), Experienced the biggest Memorial Day parade I've ever seen!
8. Regained my LGBT card, went clubbing with some PC friends and new friends!
9. Spent some good quality time with my brother and his family in Brooklyn. First time reading a story to my niece. AMAZING.
10. Oh yeah, and hung out with Sid in NYC, saw Book of Mormon, met Sid's cool friends, chilled VIP at the Clean Bandit concert with Janelle Monae.. ;-)