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I’m an expat. It feels weird to write that but in two weeks I am going back to where to I came from after two years away. Two years is a long time to be away from a place. A relationship ended and another one began. Beards and bellies have grown and have been shaved away. Babies have been born and people have married. And friends and family have passed away. Recently, a friend pointed out the fact that we were now expats. I had never liked the word before and I still don’t particularly like it but I understand it now. The topic of sports came up; he asked whether I would participate in the upcoming NFL draft. I confessed to having no idea who won the super bowl the last two years and asked if Sam Brady was still the quarterback for the Rams. Apparently, Sam Brady is not a person and I meant Sam Bradford/Tom Brady. One of them plays for the Eagles, I think it was Sam but I was drinking so I have no idea. One more incident of how much has changed. Okay well two things but they are basically the same to me. Tinder and Uber. I’m just going to assume you know what these are and I was always vaguely aware of the existence of the former but not the latter. Just two weeks back I met the new volunteers and they explained what this Uber was all about and I frankly thought it sounded a bit crazy. Yet, they had all used it! Please don’t make me Uber when I get home. So now that I am no longer living in the bush with limited to zero access to internet and living in town on a college campus I have decided to undergo a re-education process. This has been youtube videos of movie trailers, music videos, political debates (Donald Trump and Ben Carson-what is happening AMERICA), and video game trailers. Also, a friend gave me Ryan Adams album 1989, a cover of Taylor Swifts album, which is fantastic. I feel hip because I think that it’s pretty new. So, if I see you in the states next month a few things to keep in mind. Ask me about the Rugby World Cup or English Soccer because those are the only sports I have been keeping an eye on due to time and that’s what plays here. I have no idea about the rest but will politely feign an interest in them, especially if you buy me a beer. Just assume I haven’t heard of the movie/tv series/cultural event/youtube video/music craze/whatever from the last two years that you are talking about. But remember that volunteers have too much downtime and we pirate movies like no one’s business so yeah I did watch most of the nominees for Best Picture but have no idea what won. The same goes with tv series’. The rest is a work in progress. As far as everything else goes, I hear that people ask volunteers from AFRICA “Hows Africa?” So refrain from this. Just ask if I watched Sam Brady strike out the Cubbies last night.