Friends, I’m pleased to announce that Brownpau.com is back online. Thanks to the unbelievably fast network connection here at CyberLaptops, I managed to install MT2, reconfigure my weblog, and reimport my entries — all in less than twenty minutes. There’s a few more kinks to iron out (the leave page seems to have disappeared completely!), but I’m more or less back — insofar as I am able to access the internet, that is. PC rentals are not cheap over here.

Well, now I need to fill up all this empty blog space, don’t I? Expect retroactive “memoir” posts (a la Brandon and Wendy), so you can all catch up on how I made the jump, and what’s been happening to me since then.

I also need feedback: have any other pages or graphics disappeared? My gbook seems to be working again, and everything else seems to be in order, but I may have missed something.

Those of you who are just tuning in, here’s what’s up with my life:

Two days ago, I arrived in Washington, DC, and am now staying in my uncle’s house in the heart of NW Washington. I’m settling into the groove of life here as I search for a job and a room to rent.

Today, I walked to the White House and gawked like a newbie. But I forgot to bring a camera. Next time, I’m rollerblading there, and to the Washington Monument, too. Oh ah.

HEY!!! Who got the username “brownpau” on NetZero?! GRRR!!!

It’s a bit hard for me to post to my blog, check my email, or do anything on the web right now, because my uncle’s computer is an old Pentium-90 with a 14.4 modem connected to AOL. I will return to my normal voluminous online self once I have acquired the income to purchase a laptop. Job and room first.

Yesterday I took my first real walk around Washington, DC. (Embarassing confession: I only found out this morning that it means “District of Columbia.” All this time I had thought the city was part of MD.) It was a joy to walk along real sidewalks, to cross at real intersections with real (working!) pedestrian lights, to see motorists actually obeying traffic rules and giving pedestrians right of way. How wonderful, to be able to breathe deeply even in the midst of an urban center, without choking on the fumes of smoke-belching buses and jeepneys! (Well, occasionally a noisy, beat-up, old pickup truck would drive by, and I would get a whiff of that ol’ Manila feeling, but not too often, thank goodness.)

The city is beautiful, and the sheer history of it permeates the air. Old buildings and colonial architecture abound, and I’ve seen several early structures and monuments along 16th Avenue, looking for all the world like miniature Parthenons or Notre Dames. (The local Masonic Lodge looks like it was imported from early Greece.)

Today, I’m checking out First Baptist. Anyone have feedback? Praise? Warnings? Church alternatives?

By the way, I’m living with my uncle and aunt right now, in a townhouse in the Addams Morgan area, and from my room, I have a great view of the Washington Monument and the Capitol Dome. We’re walking distance from the White House! Now how cool is that, eh?

Hello. I’m in my uncle’s house in Washington, DC, after twenty-one hours of wearying international travel. Manila to Nagoya to Detroit, then a connecting flight to Reagan Airport.

I need some time. I’m in a state of extreme culture shock, and I’m still overwhelmed by the magnitude of the jump I’ve just taken. I keep saying I’ll hit the ground running, but now I realize I don’t even know how to walk. More soon.

I’m posting from home in Greenhills. Mom gave me thermals and Dad gave me sweaters, so I’m warm and toasty. I also stayed up packing last night, and I think my luggage is WAY overweight. I’m not even sure as to how I’m going to drag it down the stairs tomorrow.

Today is my last day here. :( Thanks to all you well-wishers. I’m not sure what else to say, except that there is a very, very sad part to leaving. I’m going to miss you, luv.

It’s such a big step for me, my first time returning to the US as an adult. I don’t know if I’m really ready, but by the grace of God, I know I can make it. I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.

This is my last weblog entry from the faithful Cyrix P-233 which has served as my PC for the last three years. In ten minutes a missionary from The Flying Medical Samaritans will come by to bring it to its new place of service in the Bahay Kalinga Orphanage, Mindoro Island. (The same place I visited a couple of years ago.)

It’s starting to sink in now. I’m leaving the day… after… tomorrow.

And I still haven’t packed. Or found thermal underwear.

Does anyone know of a good postgraduate Humanities course in integrated Music, History, and Culture? The best one I know so far has been this MA at Oxford Brookes, but — calamity! — it just closed down. Are there any similar programs out there, preferably in the UK?

(There’s a lady out there who’s looking, and I don’t want to see her disappointed.)