[disclaimer: what you are about to read is offensive. it is one pilot's personal account of life in and above some of the craziest places in the world.

long ago i derailed myself from the respectable airline track that most pilots aspire to. instead i chose adventure: different airplanes, jobs, and countries. i wanted to serve some of the poorest downtrodden souls on the forgotten corners of a planet. you will read about refugees who have nothing and live in war zones; victims of rape and senseless rebel violence. people who are basically being kept alive and dependent by western 'aid' while we extract their countries' resources.

i understand that it all may be a tad uncomfortable. hell, i hope it twists your entrails. that's the whole point of writing it down and releasing it into the wild. awareness, the seed of potential change.

a note on literary style: many ex-patriates and aid workers acquire an extra-dry sarcastic sexually-twisted gallows-type humor in the field. it is one of the things that helps you get through the day and cope with the madness of the job. an evolutionary adaptation, if you will. and i will.

i hope you can differentiate the serious from the tongue-in-cheek ironic. i want you to be offended by what is happening in the world, rather than how i paint it.

and if all of that makes you queasy, you are probably not tall enough for this ride.

thanks for reading! -p]

Saturday, April 26, 2008

waiting

i leave for washington, d.c. in one week for a few days of ground school before being sent out into the field for flight training.  this week it has started sinking in, the reality of what i've signed myself up for.

people ask, "are you ready?"  i don't know how to respond.

i'm sure it's going to be challenging.  i'm sure i'll see some ugly things and some beautiful things in this war-torn region.  dire humanitarian crises.  generous people who have nothing. 

i am not going because i think i can change the world.  i'm not really sure what it is that compels me.  i guess i'm tired of sitting on the sidelines, feeling sad and frustrated by everything i see and hear in newspapers and tv.  and how things only seem to get worse, all the time.  people starving and killing and being so ugly to each other so often.  i'm tired of being comfortable, and feeling like i'm just taking up space. 

i want to do something that matters.
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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Behind you all the way Patty. All the Kalispell boys wish you the best and hope you make the most of all the good and bad. I will be following you through your journey so be sure to post as often as you can. Sorry to have lost touch hombre.

May 4, 2008 at 4:08 AM
Anonymous said...

Hey Brodo, just checking out the blog for the first time, getting ideas to create my own.

I also wanted to say that your "waiting" words are, simply put -EXACTLY how I feel. And exactly the reason for my trip to Tanzania. But I think you knew that :)

I love you and hope to see you soon for some Zanzibar/Safari time.

Love you.

May 4, 2008 at 8:13 AM
Chris said...

I can ride my bike with no handle bars, no handle bars, no handle bars. haha ill give you my link once I set my blog of my thoughts from the wild frontier when I leave in June. May the force be with you. Peace

May 5, 2008 at 1:41 AM
John K. said...

Hey Paddy,
It is people like yourself who are going to change this world for the better. I will be following your journey with great interest! You are one in a million!

John

May 5, 2008 at 3:20 PM

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