Odds and Ends Thursday 19

In the northern hemisphere, my Julys were marked with heat and malaise, and it turns out July in the equatorial southern hemisphere isn’t all that different. We’re just about to finish up the first half of Term 2, and though I’m weeks behind in my year 13 class, things are still pretty mellow. School was cancelled yesterday on account of the athletics meet, and we ended at noon today because of the PSSC Verification visit. Here are some other odds and ends from the last 2 weeks:

• I have a new high score for Minesweeper! Last week I beat my previous best time on Expert level—96 seconds, set back in Fall 2004—with a new low of 90 seconds! I can’t imagine anyone else caring, but my mind was pretty blown. Now if only such skills were in anyway applicable to real life…
  
• In Samoa last week, there was a visiting Peace Corps Volunteer, Grant, who is currently serving in Tonga. He was a nice guy, but my favorite story of his had to do with a native girl he was dating. The road between his house and hers would flood when the tide was in, and thus they could only see each other when the tide was out. Their relationship literally revolved around the tides. It makes for a good story.
  
• Many of the athletics student athletes have been sleeping at school in order to allow after-school practice to last longer. The boys sleep in the great hall, and the girls sleep in the 11.2 classroom. It’s been fun to have extra people living on campus.
  
• And then the history class spent the night in the computer lab on Monday to type up their reports for today’s verification visit. I found it funny because it was similar enough to when I would pull overnighters in the 24-hour computer labs in college. I tried telling them the story about how I would sleep in the stairwell in Wade Phillips Hall using my balled-up sweatshirt as a pillow, but I don’t think it was able to jump the cultural barrier.
  
• On the first night of athletics camp, a bunch of the teachers were sitting around shooting the breeze. I asked the lady who runs the snack bar where she gets the muffins the teachers eat during Interval. She referred me to Chinatown Bakery. And then she added, “You should buy from them, and not from me. The snack bar charges extra. We’re trying to make a profit off these students!” And then she and the other teachers let out an evil cackle. It was funny.
  
• I was told that “The Sound and the Fury” was going to feel like an episode of The X-Files when I got to the end. It didn’t. It felt like a southern version of “The Great Gatsby” as told through the eyes of the Eric, Brian, and Daryl. Makes sense though, I guess. Fitzgerald and Faulkner were contemporaries.
  
• I’m just about at the part in “The West Wing” where I fell off the series when it originally aired. From what I can tell, I think the character Doug drove me away. That guy drives me nuts. I love Toby.
  
• Smadge and I had a quick Facebook conversation yesterday that was enlightening. She thinks I should take the LSAT and then re-assess my options. Yes, I was aware of this option, but it sounded good coming from Smadge. So I think I will do that. Hell, I just might take the GRE too.
  
• I’m meeting Paul for pizza in an hour. I’ll tell him you’re looking for him, Brian.
  
• Correction: In last Thursday’s post, “Cultural Exploration 15: Faleoloa,” it was stated that Lester and Luisa refer to Phil’s cousin Onosa’i as “Rick Fox”. As it turns out, Luisa originally referred to Onosa’i as “Shaggy” until Lester coined “Rick Fox”. Matt’s Samoa Blog regrets the error.

That’s all I got. I hope you’re well. Pictures below.
















The Divine Mercy conference is going on at the Cathedral right now, so they repainted the edifice and there's all kinds of flags outside. Someone joked that it looks like they've been sponsored by Digicel.
















Site and Filifili taking a break from the computer lab. I gave them ice water and Ghiradelli chocolate.
















Some guy hanging out at the record store.
















Huge fish at the fish market.