I interview you, you interview me, we're even

Today I participated in a webchat with students around Bangladesh who use the internet courtesy of State Dept.-funded Internet Learning Centers, part of the Global Connections and Exchange program. The topic was political parties in the U.S. I didn't have much profound to say, but the glory of webchats is that you can be on Google at the same time looking up answers to tough questions. I mean, um, haha, just kidding. Of course a wise diplomat like myself would know how many people are in the House of Representatives.

I also conducted interviews for the Teaching Excellence and Achievement program, an exchange for secondary school teachers. And I spent some quality time writing my portion of my evaluation--commonly referred to as the "suicide box." Fun times. Walking the line between tactful self-promotion and obnoxious toolishness is always a good challenge.

I wish James would come back from Mumbai. That will happen tomorrow, which means I'll probably go back to being a bad blogger but a happy person. One thing cheering me up: A Case of Exploding Mangoes keeps getting funnier and better. I seriously laughed out loud for a whole straight chapter. It contains probably the funniest description of the life of someone in public affairs/press relations ever written. You can find the "first chapter" here, but actually it's not the first chapter, and while it gives you a sense of the book's tone, it gets way funnier.