T-Minus Two Weeks

The countdown has officially started. I don't even want to get into what my room currently looks like-- much like my brain, it's in complete disarray. I gave myself a break this week as I feverishly scrambled to prepare for the gre's, which i took on Thursday. Now I'm trying to get things back in order.
***For those of you who are in the D.C. area rest assured that I've secured an early arrival with peace corps, which means I'll be in the area Sunday afternoon and don't have to report to the hotel downtown until Monday at 12:30. I'm planning on organizing some sort of lunch with friends Sunday night and would love to see any and all of you, please be in touch and let me know if you'll be around.***
So after a monstrous trip to Uncle Dan's with Papa Dave last week that included the purchase of a tricked out pocket knife and a headlamp... HOLLER..., I'm reevaluating my stock to decide what else i need to score. Luckily, Mama Tish delivered on the clothing end, pulling out a cream-colored frock that arguably resembles a potato sack with two arm holes more than a dress. Cannot even begin to describe how eager I am to don that gem.
Erika's coming to visit Monday and we're going to paint the town red this week. Then I'm heading up to Wisconsin to say hi to my Hoofbeat friends and round out my last full weekend at home.
I'm currently taking packing suggestions, you know, things that I absolutely cannot cross the U.S.-Mexico border without. So far I've come up with: Wedding Crashers DVD, green tea, Post Its, Mama Tish's granola dress and peanut butter.
Also i've been busy as a beaver trying to get my fingers on anything and everything as far as reading material is concerned. In addition to my Central American Guidebook published by Lonely Planet, I've scored some solid reads gracias a the Wilmette Public Library, aka my second home.
To Be A Revolutionary, by Padre J. Guadalupe Carney, only about 20 pages in but it's a pretty gripping read thus far, autobiography about a American priest who moved to Honduras to help poor people. He eventually disappeared and this is the compelation of journal entires, many of which were written by candlelight, about his experiences and his views about the coincidence of revolution and christianty. His thoughts about the poverty, campesinos, injustice, corruption, etc... is thought-provoking and inspiring, it already has me reevualting my reasons for entering peace corps and the kind of contribution i hope to make
Shooting the Moon, by David Harris, story of the man hunt for Noriega. It's got all the goods: drugs. corruption. murder. the drug enforcement agency. so basically a must-read.
Inside Central America, Clifford Krauss, former WSJ reporter and NYT reporter, comprehensive and informative run-down of central america country by country
Central America Inside Out, by Tom Barry, same deal as Krauss's but a bit more in depth
Is anyone reading/has anyone read something that I absolutely have to take with me to Honduras? I'm taking Cien Anos de Soledad by Garcia Marquez and Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Maintenence so I can pretend to be way more profound than I actually am, but I'm hoping to grab a couple more paperbacks that will get me thinking-- please forward any and all suggestions!
Also, on another side note, if you like reading about hypocrisy and injustice on home soil, you absolutely MUST pick up State of Denial by Bob Woodward. He writing is so impressive, his reporting is outstanding and makes me want to crawl inside his head and chill there for a few years, pick up some inside tips. It's the third book in a series he did about the run-up and execution of the Iraq war. He methodically and clairvoyantly documents the astonishing malaise and unaccountability of those in charge of this mess. It's really thrilling, I flew through it and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to make sense of this quagmire and, more importantly, interested in finding sensible solutions.
More thrilling entries to come, and pretty soon I'm going to force myself to write these puppies in spanish, so break out your spanish-english dictionaries
On a personal side note, i'd like to extend a shout-out to my very good friend, Erin Vanden Brook, for scoring what could quite possibly be the sweetest deal ever, teaching english in malaga, spain, for a year through the spanish embassy. I'm trying to muster a convincing amount of enthusiasm to mask my raging bitterness. Ummm, working 12 hour weeks and otherwise traveling across the what is arguably the greatest country in world, chilling on the costa del sol beaches and basically meeting the sketchiest people on this planet-- where do i sign up??
[You Buy Me? Whiskey Fanta? Make me proud, Vandy]