Beauracrapcy Sucks...

So it turns out that due to a bunch of mistakes made by a bunch of people, including but not limited to myself, my South African Passport will not be ready by November. After a week of running around, making phone calls (and many thanks to my parents who made a bunch of calls and reaserch while I was working), getting a billion pictures taken, and cursing the pettyness of the Canadian passport office ("all birth certificates from Quebec must be post 1994, and no there is no good reason why") the general inefficeincy of Quebec ("no we are not allowed to tell you when your birth certificate will be ready") and the South African embassy's amazing paperwork-losing capabilites I am pretty much sick of it all. No plane ticket, no set dates, no nothing... gaaaa! My date of leaving has been pushed back probably to January.

However, I do know the following...

Before going to South Africa, I am going to India with my mom and sister on Nov. 10th, and staying for 3 weeks. We will volunteer at a children's home and touristerize. I also want to ride a tiger.

In South Africa I hope to volunteer for the South African YMCA, which does work in prisons and hard-done-by school, the very type of thing I want to be doing. I hope they email me back soon. I also want to do more prison ministry, catch more wildlife, and perhaps wrestle in the South African nationals. Good times...

Oh yeah, and I am doing a liquids-for-a-week contest, in which we are only allowed to consume foods that can be sucked through a straw. Basically it's been smoothies, soups and chocolate milk all week. Blenderized ravioli, when mixed with soup base and hot sauce, actually makes a great drink! I have yet to work up the nerve to try "meatcream", which sounds gross and only becomes grosser when you describe it- a meat milkshake... but I will try it soon, I think, which reminds me... my brother Nils wants to do a meat-week soon, a week of eating only the flesh of dead animals, and we need participants, so let me know if you're interested. You can eat a pack of bacon for supper and still lose weight!