One of my housemates left today and I can’t say I’m unhappy about it. He was unusual for a housemate that I didn’t care for in that he didn’t do anything big wrong, but he did every little thing wrong. He didn’t do his dishes, he (and his room) smelled, he constantly interrupted me while we were talking, was always asking to borrow things, and generally got on my nerves. He was from Austria and lectured me several times about the domestic American political situation. If that wasn’t bad enough, he even made me jealous by doing things that I can’t do through his connections at UNDP. Anyway, he’s gone, and after we air the place out a bit I’m sure I’ll get back to normal…
Morris also left yesterday. He’s an odd guy, probably in his mid 60’s and from North Carolina. He’s had an interesting life, including living in various parts of Africa for 13 straight years in the 80’s and 90’s. He is the only person I have ever met that could drop lines into conversations like, “That reminds me of a time when I was working on a railroad in Gabon…” An educated redneck, that’s what he called himself, he’s got degrees from American U. and UVA. While he had many interesting stories to tell, he could be a bit difficult to be with for a while, hard drinking and smoking are two attributes that describe him well. With a few drinks in him, his North Carolina redneck self came out, he dropped N___ bombs without compunction.
We get an odd group here at the school. i guess it’s fair to say that it takes an odd person to come here at all. Even the people I don’t like add a little something to the experience here, I’ll remember all of them.