Happy Fourth of July

Dear Constant Readers,

I felt it was time to write you a message, as I haven't written in a long time. That isn't to say I've had nothing to say. But as time has gone on, I haven't been as devoted to the more regular writings I used to do. I've even stopped writing in my personal diary so often, which may be something that I'll come to regret.

But oh well. I am at home for the weekend, celebrating Independence Day with my family, and enjoying some time off. My time at our apartment is coming to an end this July, and then I'll be moving home for a little bit over a month. I was recently accepted by the Peace Corps to work in Peru doing Water and Sanitation work, which I'm happy about. I don't know that much about the work I'll be doing, but I was told it would involve construction, so to make up for my severe lack of construction experience, I've been spending Saturdays volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, where we help build homes for people who don't have a home. I'm finding that although the skills I'm learning are good, I won't want to do construction for a living. But that doesn't really surprise me. I think it'll be good for me, however, to try something new.

Maybe something new is what I really need at the moment. I set out to learn French earlier this summer, but ended up running out of gas. It scared me that I might be losing my passion for languages, and I sincerely hope that won't be the case. I think the truth is though, I just am not as enthusiastic about certain languages as others. I've told people before, you don't choose the language, it chooses you. And really, in a way I think that's true. You don't choose something so much as you find it fits you. French, Italian, Spanish, and so forth, beautiful and soulful languages though they are, and ones I do want to learn (or improve my knowledge of) they simply aren't what attracts me to linguistics. I am more excited by exotic languages that look nothing like what I am familiar with, such as Navajo or Indonesian, or ones that feel very earthy to me, namely German and Norwegian.

I doubt I'll lose my passion for languages when I still get plenty of enjoyment out of simply leafing through grammar books and bilingual texts. But this has made me realize A) I need to be well-balanced and B) I'm not sure I want to go into linguistics professionally, as I was beginning to think I might.

I'd like to hear what anyone has to say about this.

Do I disclose to much on this blog? Sometimes I think so. I've mentioned this before, but I think I'm still learning the art of how to speak about one's self without putting all the cards on the table. I believe in honesty, have recently been made to consider that I come across much to strongly. Some of my friends know practically everything about me, while other close friends I can still confide in, but I think that it is wiser to avoid some subjects. I think we are all like that sometimes, though.

But I'm really lucky in the friends that I've made. I'm not going to list names, but you probably know who you are. A lot of you I haven't seen in several months anyway, and I want you to know that even though the dynamics have perhaps changed, I still miss you and am proud to be your friend. No matter what side of the country/ocean/planet you may be on.

It's actually late here now, so I think this would be a good time to stop. I'll write again eventually, and hopefully will have some access to Internet while in Peru, because I plan on maintaining my blog while living there.

Till then!

Hope all is well,
Tristan