http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvBCl3CBMXA

she's already ahead of the game!

here's a reminder that time is passing, and you will be looking back. One day you'll wake up, and where a few days ago, when you said "10 years ago" you were talking about being a child, a teen, you'll be saying 30 years ago, meaning "When I was 25" and wondering where all the time went.

Use it wisely. you only get each moment once.

Frank Sinatra - It was a Very Good Year

I would say buy the whole Michael Franti and Spearhead catalog and make a mixed cd. They've got songs for every mood, but lots of reggae and lots of politics. Short of that, let me know, and I'll send her a mixed Spearhead cd. Everyone should have one. Let me know.

Best wishes to your niece...I too have a beautiful,smart wonderful niece in her early 20's and enjoy being the 'crazy uncle' every girl should have...here's a song i've played to her and recommended the lyrics...by Sly and the Family Stone

tand!
In the end you'll still be you
One that's done all the things you set out to do
Stand!
There's a cross for you to bear
Things to go through if you're going anywhere

Stand!
For the things you know are right
It s the truth that the truth makes them so uptight
Stand!
All the things you want are real
You have you to complete and there is no deal

Stand. stand, stand!
(Everybody, yeah)
Stand. stand, stand!

Stand!
You've been sitting much too long
There's a permanent crease in your right and wrong
Stand!
There's a midget standing tall
And a giant beside him about to fall

Stand. stand, stand!
Stand. stand, stand!

Stand!
They will try to make you crawl
And they know what you're saying makes sense and all
Stand!
Don't you know that you are free
Well, at least in your mind if you want to be

Everybody
Stand, stand, stand!

I've been to many places in Europe and the States, as well as a few places in Canada, and once in Belize. But I have never been to Egypt, a place I've always wanted to go. Ever since my high school ancient history teacher took a group of us to Chicago to see the King Tut exhibit in 1979, I've been fascinated with Egypt. And your niece is going there to live and teach English....wow, I envy her and wish her all the best in seeing, learning, and living a new culture in a place I'm fascinated with. Good for B....she's made a very wise decision, and I know she'll love it there!

My interest in going there myself just got renewed!

By the way, loved that Michael Franti song.

Living overseas teaching English is something many people should try once - not to influence others, but to let them influence you. The biggest single cause of problems in the US is the blind belief of the masses of what they are told (i.e. "They hate us for our freedoms"). People who live overseas and see what the people and media in other countries think tend to have a more enlightened view. Read this column by Ted Rall from 2003 to understand what I mean.

Why do they hate us? Two years later, we're still arguing about this question. Hawks believe that Islamists and other anti-American groups are jealous of our freedoms. Doves blame us for insensitivity and arrogance: throwing our weight around the world as if we owned it generates resentment and anger.

[...]

Mandatory public service is a good idea, but...why not send them to study overseas for two years? [...] I propose an International Youth Service, which would require every able-bodied 18-year-old American to travel, at government expense, to a foreign city of the federal government's choosing. They would remain there for two years, acting as cultural ambassadors while learning about other societies firsthand.

[...]

Aside from providing them with marketable skills during an age of increasing globalization, International Youth Service would open the eyes of Americans to the simple fact that we are not alone. There are other ways of worshipping, of looking at the world, of existing, than the American way. Most kids will probably come home more convinced than ever that the U.S. is the best country on earth--but that belief would be based on something more substantive than jingoistic team spirit.

At the same time our youth are broadening their horizons, citizens of their host nations would be getting to know us. They would soon realize that, at the core, our similarities outweigh our differences. And they'd see Americans at their best, fresh out of high school with high hopes for helping people and making a difference.

You want a song about getting started? Here's a favorite of mine:

Steve Miller Band, "Tokin's", from 1971 (lyrics)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxjaxk98JoU

Sittin' gettin' higher in the back of a limousine
While people all around me
They are finding it harder to dream
Impossible people seen only in nightmares
Are beginning to make it real
And disorder keeps fadin'
The times they are changin'
Well, I wish I was behind the wheel

Didn't somebody once talk about "Be the change you want to see in the world"...?

As for Michael Franti, I've really only listened to one of his albums, but what an album: "Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury" recorded as The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy, arguably the height of rap as political and social commentary.

.
Buddhist Cathedrals & Christian Pagodas, your choice.
.

was very beautiful , the Hermitage was incrediable , St Petersburg is very cosmopoltian , I love russia .

Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life

Hi-Fly

Just last night I got to visit with a good friend who has spent this past year doing just what your niece is planning. She teaches in a wealthy, English speaking elementary school. This friend also taught in the Chicago school district. Anyone with money there sends their children to the private schools because of the shoddy public education system.

She liked it for the most part. She said she is payed what she would be paid in the US, plus her housing is provided, they have ample vacation time and large budgets to work with. Of course, it is ultra-conservative, culturally, and the government is blatantly corrupt, but she said some areas are basically a paradise of beauty.

This friend has taught in similar situations in Mexico and Spain as well. Through her experiences she has become a free spirited and confident woman. I wish the same for your niece.