It was Carol's birthday today so we went out to eat at Jasmine, this cheap Thai place on the Upper East side. The food was pretty good and amazingly cheap, kind of like Republic. The last time we all got together (meaning Carol, Greg, Winnie, Louis and me) was for Greg's birthday which was three months ago. It's saddening to realize that so much time has gone by and that it's normal for us to only see each other every few months. We always mean to get together more but it never happens. It's nice though because things never change when we get together. A night of food, some pool or bowling or whatnot and we're on our way once again. Tonite was a pool and ping pong night at Amsterdam Billiards. It was crazy, they charged $6.50 an hour per person for the ping pong tables. I fear going into the city because i know just stepping in for a few hours means at least twenty to thirty dollars.



Before we met up with Carol, me, Louis and Karina met up with Karen because she was going back to Conneticut this afternoon. She is going to Togo (a tiny country in Africa) with the Peace Corps for two years starting September and it's astonishing to hear her talk about it. I have so much respect for Karen because she is the type of person who is able to give so much of herself that she can dedicate two years of her life in some little tiny country helping the people. In college, Karen just got things done. She was an outstanding student, she partied, she had wonderful friendships...pretty amazing. And she travels extensively and totally immerses herself in different cultures. She was reading this book about another Peace Corp volunteer's experiences in Togo and we sort of touched on what she hopes to get out of her whole experience and whether the recipients of the aid were the real beneficieries of a program like Peace Corp.



I feel like i want to undergo some sort of transformative experience like the Peace Corp but i don't think i could ever muster up the courage to do it. I like being within my bubble and even though i often dream of drastically jumping out of it, i don't know if i could actually follow through and attempt something that might challenge everything i know and think.