Keep on Chooglin'

Back to the grind here in Algiers, which of course means back to sleeping in and shirking my research duties...but just for a few days, of course.



The lovely break with Jess in Paris - where I was able to eat pork and drink alcohol to my heart, stomach, and liver's delight - had to end at some time, I guess, as it seems that humans have managed, in all our brilliance, to create a world where my continued pleasure and leisure is not seen as the pinacle of human achievement that it most surely is. For some reason there are people out there not working toward this lofty goal. I am making it your mission (yes, you) to find these people and do whatever it takes to get them on the right track. Your friend/relative/sibling/ random-guy-who's-site-you-stumbled-upon needs you. Don't let him down.



But the bastards are out there, and so accordingly I caught a flight back at some unholy hour of the morning, going through Madrid. Now, you might know this already, but in Spanish "Algiers" is "Argel," (and in French it is "Alger"). Finding the name "Argel" on the flight board, I had to pause to check the flight number. Because of the notorious Spanish tendency to spell everything wrong ("piso" is how they spell "floor," and "mojado" is how they spell "wet." Now how dangerous is that?! Get it right, Spanish!), and because of the French "Alger," I thought that some sleepy jerk in the Madrid airport had merely typed the name into the computer wrongly. I even took a picture, I thought this little Spanish anagrammal mix-up was so funny.



So I spent the two hours of my layover in Madrid giggling to myself about this wacky mix-up. Then I got on the plane. Oops, they actually say "Argel," in Spanish. Well, isn't that just a kick in the pants.



At the end of the day (wha what Pierre!), I guess it isn't so bad to be back. You know, I was getting too much of spending time with my girlfriend, eating delicious food, drinking wine and walking around one of the most beautiful cities on earth. It's nice to get back to crushing poverty and deep structural corruption, not to mention very poor air quality, poor nutrition, and generalized anger. Starting to go soft, I was. Smiling too much. I can't wait to get my scowl back.