This pleases me:

- roommate located and brought back two boxes of matzo ball mix from Ohio, where there are apparently enough Jews to require matzo ball mix

- baseball

- quote from student: "For the first time in my whole life, I actually enjoy my English classes."

- students still being on break means less people on the metrobus, the metro, and basically everywhere

- ice cream

- baseball

(editor's note: there was an earthquake last night, but all is well. it was pretty benign. kinda cool actually.)

Multiple Choice

Let’s play “Plan Adam’s Life!” My last day here is May 31^st, I am spending the summer in California, and then I will embark once again on the sea of endless possibilities which seems to make one or two appearances a year in my life. Instead of organizing my thoughts, I thought I would blorganize (blorganize, v., to organize in blog format) them for you. Here are some possible landing points, in alphabetical order, for Septemberish:

Austin, Texas, USA: Doesn’t sound so adventuresome, eh? Granted, I have already spent over twenty years of my life in the Live Music Capital of the World, but one of my best friends from California is threatening to move there. All I do when I’m not in Austin is try to get my friends to move to Austin, so if someone is actually going to do it, I feel somewhat obligated to be there. I also have all my friends there. Plus it would be generally awesome. I like this idea. Maybe just for a year, and then I’ll set back out on my travels. This requires a job. I like Magnolia Café (and defy anyone to prove that Kerbey Lane is better).

California, USA: I have a lot of friends here as well, and there are even some immigrant Texas friends. Beach. Sun. I imagine there is a demand for ESL teaching. I think there are only a few places in the States that I could ever live besides Austin, but I could live most anywhere in California. NoCal gets a little cold for me, but it is beautiful. After living in Mexico City, I don’t think I could handle L.A., at least not right away. I like In-N-Out, though I believe that it is grossly overrated. The fries are peculiar, and any burger in Texas is probably going to kick its ass.

Israel: Adam’s mom says, “Well, I’ll probably be a nervous wreck the whole time you are there. On the other hand, at least there will be a plethora of Jewish girls for you to marry.” I have friends all over the country. Citizenship is a bonus. Not sure how I feel about the three months of army service if I go in September. I imagine I’d probably just get stuck behind a desk. If I wait until February (when I turn 26), I just go straight into the reserve pool. There’s also the whole “getting in touch with your roots” thing here. I like schwarma (strangely enough, I have never like falafel).

Japan: Japan has always intrigued me, plus you actually make decent money there as a teacher. This might be a little farther off in the future. I know no Japanese. I like sushi. I would make an excellent ninja. I know very little about Japan, as shown by the fact that the only two things I really associate with it are sushi and ninjas. Though really, that is enough to convince me to go there.

Mexico City, D.F, Mexico: As much as I complain about some things here, I feel like I could do things differently to make life more enjoyable the second time around. I have a lot of friends here, and now that I have a network it would not be difficult to get private classes and maybe work part-time for a school, too. This would let me have more control of my schedule and the location of my classes. You can also apparently take courses at the university here for pretty cheap, so I could do some school, too. My Spanish would continue to improve. I like tacos.

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico: I have some connections there and might be able to scrap together enough teaching hours to survive. It’s the beach. I feel no need to explain myself further. My Spanish would continue to improve, though not at the same rate as in Mexico City. There is the advantage, though, that I would be able to breathe, something which is always helpful when trying to speak any language (I went running today. Hot Tip: running in Mexico City: not so fun. I am not on speaking terms with my lungs.). I like tacos a lot.

Somewhere Else, Earth: See, this is the one that makes things really difficult… I like choices. I don’t like making decisions.

Oh, I got a surprise visitor. My friend Danny, who I know from my days at good old Greene Family Camp, was in town for some convention. If I understood what he did, I would explain it to you. I think it is marketing and he represents some crazy plastic thing/company that was at the convention. Anyway, we had an official business dinner, and he didn’t get kidnapped. Hooray!

I also thought I would introduce yall to my roommates by passing along this excellent family portrait from a recent party. This is the Tokio family. From the left are Dan, Andrea, me, Andy, and Alex. I’m not really sure what else to say about this picture, but it is in my Mexico Top Ten. Dan and Andrea are a couple and, along with Alex, are from England. Andy is from Ohio. I, of course, am from Texas. Texas is rad.