I want to move to Africa or How I’m having a quarter life crises.

[Sebastian]

Aubrey the Malformed wrote:

Seb, most kind. And it's a pint of bitter (room temperature, though maybe not the temperature of a room in a desert). Preferably a Timothy Taylor's, if you have one.

Sounds tastey (insofar as a drink named after the least pleasant tasting experience can be tastey). And you would have to try some real Mexican food. That's the one type of cuisine you absolutely lack on that little island of yours.

[ericthecleric]

Fizzban, firstly, good luck with whatever you decide.
Second, do as much research as you can before making a decision; this includes possibly visiting first.
You also seriously need to consult with your fiancé; like, what if she doesn’t want to go, and you did?
I agree with Sebastian and Heathansson: You really should finish law school first, mainly because if you left beforehand, would you be able to get back in to studying? (Ah, I noticed in your last post that you will finish school). I do also agree that you’d be better off also getting a few years in as, say, an environmental or human rights lawyer first, as these should have reasonably international crossovers.

My stepsister taught English in China for a few years, and eventually worked for the United Nations (in former Yugoslavia, I think). In the end, she quit that job because she thought the UN was too corrupt, and now works for UNESCO in Africa. (Strange that; why would UNESCO be any better?)

One of my old friends quit his relatively well-paid job last year as a university administration manager to do something for the VSO (which I think is like the Peace Corp). So, after a lot of preparation, he went to Zambia in October and has been sending out diary/letters in emails. If you’re interested, and Kyr doesn’t mind (as I don’t want to put my email addy up), I’ll email his letters to you via Kyr, as they provide a fascinating view of his first couple of months there. In all, the six letters are about 23,000 words combined, but it should give you some idea of what it’s like.

You are also in a very fortunate position in that you can just walk into your grandparents’ practice. I don’t know how things are in the USA, but in the UK, getting a decent job in a profession like law/accountancy/whatever seems to depend mostly on nepotism, blagging, or extreme good luck.

[ericthecleric]

Hey Sebastian, there are quite a few mexican restaurants in the UK. When I was doing my BSc in London, I used to love going to one such restaurant, which unfortunately closed down several years ago, and there are a few restaurant chains here and there of varying quality.
Where I live now, there don't seem to be any though (although there might in Manchester, I haven't looked); heck, in my local supermarket you can't even get any foucaccia (sp?) bread. Heathens! As you might guess, I'm not from the town where I live.

[Lilith]

Aubrey the Malformed wrote:

Fizzban wrote:

5. Oh and Aubrey beer should never ever NEVER be at room temperature. The colder the better!

You poor, ignorant boy - lager should be cold, bitter should be warm. Hey, if you want a multicultural experience, come to the UK, drink warm beer and experience the joys and horrors of the English pub.

What Aubrey said. Some beers are better warm.

[Sebastian]

ericthecleric wrote:

Hey Sebastian, there are quite a few mexican restaurants in the UK. When I was doing my BSc in London, I used to love going to one such restaurant, which unfortunately closed down several years ago, and there are a few restaurant chains here and there of varying quality.

Where I live now, there don't seem to be any though (although there might in Manchester, I haven't looked); heck, in my local supermarket you can't even get any foucaccia (sp?) bread. Heathens! As you might guess, I'm not from the town where I live.

Really? When I was in London back in 99 I couldn't find a single good place. Of course, that's before I really got into Mexican food, but I remember going to these British pubs and receiving these weird quesadillas, that, while tastey, were not at all Mexican.

I've never had good Mexcian food from a chain. In particular, the chains in Michigan lead me to believe that Mexcian food was inedible and best avoided.

[ericthecleric]

The place I referred to was in Islington (north London), just north of Oxford Street, but I think it closed just before 99, when I last tried going there.
There’s one (chain) restaurant in Leicester Square, which I don’t think that’s that good, but there was another chain in South-West England and Cardiff that was OK. I used to go to the Cardiff-based one a fair bit.
Incidentally, several more standard food places serve Cayjun chicken as well, but I’m sure that really good Cayjun food is hard to find.

[Fizzban]

Two of the many wonderful things about being a Southern is Sweet Tea and I mean so sweet it's almost syrup, and Jack Daniels Tennesse Whiskey (however Crown Royal is great to). The great thing is they're good by themselves or together!

Fizz

I still refuse to admit warm beer is good.

[Fizzban]

The “family” firm is ran by my great uncle (my grandfather help start it, but my father, his son, had no interest in being a lawyer (who now does narcotics investigation) so after my grandfather died the firm went to my great uncle) so while I won’t have the “keys” to the “kingdom”, I won’t have the door slammed in my face either. They do mostly real-estate and contractual law (I believe some are on retainers to be public defenders), which is not my cup of tea, but if I need a job I’ll suck it up. I have taken an interest in “international law” or lack there of I suppose would be more accurate. I would also like to repeat I am NOT giving up law or trying to be a lawyer in Africa. What I know about Africa AND international law mostly revolves around importing firearms to Africa to help wars/dictators/rebels that the West wants to win or rather wants less dead. It sounds harsh but it's true, and the 4 biggest importers of firearms are the U.S., U.K., Russia, and France. In undergrad a professor, who specialized in Russian/USSR Politics, and I thought about trying to run weapons. Buy from USSR surplus sale to African countries. The law is a little grey on what you can and can not do, and the punishment for selling guns illegally across state lines in the U.S. is harsher than internationally.

Fizz

[Aubrey the Malformed]

Sebastian wrote:

Sounds tastey (insofar as a drink named after the least pleasant tasting experience can be tastey). And you would have to try some real Mexican food. That's the one type of cuisine you absolutely lack on that little island of yours.

I actually cook a fairly mean chilli con carne. Admittedly, I have nothing else to compare it against, but I like it. And yes, "bitter" does have something of a marketing problem when you consider its name.

And Fizz, they drink warm beer all the time in Africa - you might need to get used to it.