pg 206: in Uganda "I reflected that a person who has not crossed an African border on foot has not really entered the country, for the airport in the capital is no more than a confidence trick; the distant border, what appears to be the edge, is the country's central reality."
* Thubron and Theroux are experienced, wizened old travelers - the PCVs are green and naive, seeing things for the first time - this should be stressed in the writing
I thought today that my book is my reflection on the events today, including my life as it is and the writing process, sorting out feelings as I relive scenes, etc.
compares his age to Africans - "In Africa no one's lifetime was long enough to accomplish anything substantial" (208)
"The older traveler knows it best: in our hearts we are youthful and we are insulted to be treated as old men and burdens, for we have to come to know that the years have made us more powerful and certainly streetwise. Years are not an affliction - old age is strength." (208-9)
Uganda was where he taught in college - so we we get his memories (210)
pg 211: grasshoppers taste "better than white ants." according to a native
prostitution followed aid workers (212)
*PCVs - how powerful yet weak, how brave yet frightened - I was somewhere in the middle
pg 222-3: he buys beers and fries for three prostitutes and chats with them - he loves mingling with the "real people"
he is emotionally invested in Africa (235)
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