Summer Reading In Autumn (And About 20 Years Late)

It's all about literature here in the Welsh 'town of books' - Hay-On-Wye

PLEASE COMMENT...
and write the name of the book you are reading (or one that you would recommend)!

The Welsh sure do love their 'Fifty Shades of Hay'!

As I mentioned in previous posts, I have long neglected my studies with regards to literature. I was never much into books as a young child. I would pretend to read them by memorizing some basic facts. As a result, I performed half as well as I could have in all my Literature classes. I fell quite behind my peers in knowledge of great works. It wasn't that I couldn't read. I could read very well. I have always had excellent vision and comprehension skills. I knew what I was reading, but I wasn't at all interested! Why would one read a fiction book anyway?! The story contained therein isn't true. So what could one learn from it? Oddly enough this mentality followed me all the way to college at the University of California Berkeley, where I continued to dive primarily only into works of non-fiction - books on language, psychology, cognition, neuro-science and the like.

What changed? I came across a little-known book called "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone." What started off as a little diversion to desperately escape the pain of my life at that time, turned into a succession of books that has not stopped since. (Although I am not the fastest reader...) I would read fiction and non-fiction. I would alternate genres. I would even read a couple books at the same time. Typically I would read a fiction/fantasy book before bed, a mystery or classic book while traveling, and a non-fiction or historical fiction book on vacation.

I have often felt somewhat deprived for not having read "the greats." I may have actually read through a decent number of them, but hardly remember the stories at this point. Of course I cannot blame my English Lit teachers as they tried their best to encourage me. The truth is, I had to learn to love reading. That never happened until after college. I never picked up a book for fun unless it was to learn a language or learn something interesting or practical. What I didn't know growing up was that not only could one benefit from reading with regards to overall English comprehension but also benefit through the development of one's critical thinking skills. I also didn't know that reading could be, like, fun!

Here's my list of so-called "summer reading" list that I have assigned myself. It is a growing, living list that will hopefully wax and wane as I finish each work and learn of new ones to add. Without further ado, THE LIST (currently at 25). Please feel free to add your suggestions in the comment section.

Here's the queue (in reverse order):

25. Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
24. Victor Hugo - The Hunchback of Notre Dame
23. Oscar Wilde - The Importance of Being Earnest
22. Margaret Atwood - Alias Grace
21. James Joyce - Ulysses
20. Neal Stephenson - Seveneves
19. Virginia Woolf - Mrs. Dalloway
18. Tea Obreht - The Tiger's Wife
17. Chris Cleave - Little Bee
16. George Orwell - Animal Farm
15. Toni Morrison - Beloved
14. Allison Levine - On the Edge
13. Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Notes from the Underground
12. Plato - The Republic
11. Friedrich Nietzsche - Thus Spake Zarathustra A book for all and none
10. Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra - Don Quixote
9. H.G. Wells - The War of the Worlds
8. Sunzi - The Art of War
7. Sir Saint Thomas More - Utopia
6. James Baldwin - Giovanni's Room
5. Yann Martel - Life of Pi
4. Stephen Coryelle - Elves In Oregon
3. Christopher Isherwood - Christopher and His Kind
2. Ismail Kadare - The Siege
1. Muriel Spark - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Currently reading: George Orwell - 1984

Last read: The Stranger by Albert Camus

Being Everyone's Friend Can Be Hard Work!

Qofte, Buke, Raki, and Qep. It's the Albanian Family Dinner in action

Making friends while serving in The Peace Corps can be an interesting endeavor.

Sure we all want to be a great volunteer. We want to be friends with everyone. We want our name to be called as we walk down the streets of our home town/village/etc. We want that experience like in the TV show "Cheers" (where everybody knows our name). Anthropologically-speaking, we as humans have an innate social instinct. We try (even need) to fit into a social group in order to survive. Those who are not part of a social group are at risk for being picked-off and attacked, are less likely to find a suitable mate, and are relegated to the bottom of the social hierarchy.

Putting this into context for Peace Corps, there are several things going on here:
1. We try to fit in with our new social environment.
2. We try to fit in with our fellow Peace Corps Volunteers
3. We try to impress Peace Corps as an organization, and produce note-worthy work.
4. We try to find like-minded people these domains (cross-sectionally), building/expanding our own local social network.
5. We try to maintain social standing and presence with friends and family back home.

We are willingly uprooted from our home and place of comfort. We are transported to another  environment with a culture different from the one to which we are accustomed. We don't want to fall behind our Peace Corps peers. So what do we do?

Me and one of my buddies in Librazhd, Albania

We try. We try hard. We sacrifice. We sometimes worry. We sometimes worry a lot. We cry. We overeat. We undereat. We gossip. We burnout. We strive for greatness. We give ourselves to our communities. We dedicate our lives to strangers. We make friends. We open our hearts. We make meaningful connections. We have misunderstandings. We offend. We are offended. We have expectations that don't get met. We fail. We try again. We fail again. We gain resolve. We try yet again. We succeed and feel amazing. We are dynamic and unstoppable. We experience ups and downs. We find ourselves at a loss for words. We experience breathtaking beauty. We see some messed-up things. We shut the world out. We fear for our future. We open up the doors to life again. We find new passions. We discover things about ourselves. We try new things. We eat new things. We offer our culture willingly. We participate gratefully. We act silly. We help each other out. We admire each other. We get jealous of each other. We envy one another. We apologize for our mistakes. We move on. We forgive others. We forgive ourselves. We find that we love our new home. We grow close to our communities. We work together to accomplish great things. We surprise ourselves. We surprise others. We go for gold and end up going platinum. We wake up wanting to change the world and do amazing things!

Then again... some days we just want to watch Game of Thrones in our underwear and eat the peanut butter our parents sent us last week.

My Must-Do Bucket List

I was tempted to add "Ride the Hogwarts Express" lol

Kicking the bucket, originally a term referring to act of using a beam used to slaughter a pig (which would often kick), now is used as a device to narrow down 'must-do' items. Obviously the goal is to do them before one dies... but how would one do them otherwise? ANYWAY...

As I get older I find that this list changes a little. I discover more things about the world and about myself that lead me to desire new things - things I never knew existed or that I wouldn't previously believe to be that enjoyable for me.

I'm 33 years old. It's August 19, 2015. Here are 20 items from my current list:

20. Work in Foreign Service as a Diplomat for +United Nations or +U.S. Department of State
19. Support new LGBT Pride Parades across the globe
18. Create a nest-egg
17. Skydiving, bungee-jumping, hang-gliding, etc.
16. Open my own gym/get Personal Training certified
15. Find my true calling
14. Gain a deeper understanding of my family history
13. Work in the medical field as a nurse
12. Get my pilot's license
11. Climb extreme heights
10. Create a music video
9. Be a part of an acting or artist collaborative group/troupe
8. Read the 1000 best books of all-time.
7. Have kids, raise these kids, and be on good terms with said kids into adulthood.
6. Write an allegorical novel
5. Be able to understand on a basic level (at least): Arabic, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Swahili, Japanese, Punjabi, Tagalog,  Javanese, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Korean, Bengali, German, Persian, Cantonese, and Thai.
4. Learn to love a sport
3. Be able to speak fluently - Spanish, Albanian, Mandarin, French, and Hindi
2. Meet and work on an LGBT campaign with one of the following: +Macklemore & Ryan Lewis +conoroberst +JennyLewis +benkweller +Madonna +Lady Gaga +Sir Ian McKellen +Angelina Jolie as Goodwill Ambassador

Some previous bucket list items accomplished:
1. Meet the president
2. Volunteer for my country through service (Peace Corps)
3. Fly a plane
4. Save a life
5. Volunteer at a local health clinic
6. Learn another language - Spanish, Albanian, Latin

Oh God, Grant Me The Serenity...

I find that my more interesting days happen when I pray in the morning. One of my usual prayers is that I ask God/Higher Power/etc. for the power to let go.

It is not that I don't care. Completely the opposite. I care too much. So much so that I worry excessively at times and that can prevent me from being of service to others. I pray not for the willingness to ignore my responsibilities but rather the strength to be present and to release my fears so that I can enjoy this amazing experience.

Living alone can be a challenge at times. I really have to be on guard and watch out for my character defects - particularly re: fear, jealousy, self-pity, and ego/self-importance. When I don't have someone evaluating me constantly, I must do so on my own. As with any job, I want to do my best and to make sure not to fall behind. Sometimes I think that my mind tends to expect more of myself in times like this. It also tends to project the accomplishments and accolades of other people onto me. This is quite easy given a flexible schedule and regular access to social media/facebook. The truth is, the work of other volunteers has no bearing on my experience. It is up to me to face what challenges may come, and to acknowledge personal victories. I can't compare myself to others, because we all have such different experiences. We come from different backgrounds, different places, and have different experiences, challenges, and comfort zones. As they often say in Peace Corps ad nauseum "Every volunteer's experience is different." Well.... yeah, it kind of is. ;-)