Tuesday, June 7, 2005

Checking In and Checking Out: June 7th, 2005

Well, the last few days/ weeks have been rather hectic and that trend will apparently continue for the foreseeable future. Upon turning 26 two saturdays ago, I drove up to the mountains where I sequestered myself at my pop's place to study for the LSAT. Having very little time, and the cold front that swept through bringing copious rain, meant that I stayed boarded up in the kitchen house, cramming my head full of helpful techniques while I poked and prodded as much heat as I could get out of the old woodburning stove. I got back to Charleston last Saturday and continued my studies, though I did take the time to blow the head off of a copperhead that I accidently ran over in the driveway. Fortunately, Pop, who was with me since we'd just come back from eating Mexican, wasn't aware that was my first confirmed kill or he no doubt would have tried to bathe me in its blood (a standard rite of passage for newly minted deer hunters) and I no doubt would have run screaming, wailing about venom getting in my eyes.

I took the test yesterday at the College of Charleston. I'm feeling cautiously optimistic at this point. Hopefully I do well enough that I can get USC to pony up some dough. I find out near the end of the month what the results are. All that being said, the big news is that I got out of the test and immediately drove the five hundred miles up here to Washington DC, where I am staying until my friend Andrew (we did our Artillery training together in OK) and I fly for Peru tomorrow. Three weeks (til June 30th) in a third world paradise are just what the doctor ordered, I believe, though hopefully he only ordered bouts of binge drinking, cheap travel, beautiful scenery, and friendly locals, and not an uprising of Tupac Amaru or Shining Path, or a ransom kidnapping, or a stabbing, shooting, mugging or even plain old pickpocketing (all of which I bring up solely to torment my beleaguered parents... kisses, mom and dad). At any rate, even with coca production up three hundred percent so far this year, Peru hasn't gotten a travel warning from the State Dept yet, so I think we're in the clear. Besides, if they really want Americans, why would any baddies want to mess with two athletic (looking) young men, when they can just grab a group of spoiled, obnoxious sorority chicks, or an overweight couple in tacky t-shirts walking around with their faces buried in a map? Oh yeah, I'm taking a hatchet and a k-bar (so that you know what did it when I email that I accidently stabbed myself at some point during the trip... me and sharp things aren't friends).

I hope everything is doing well out there in y'all's necks of the woods and hopefully the next time y'all see me it will be in person and not on a hostage videotape being aired on CNN.

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