Musings from a Whirling Dervish

One More Night in Harare

I haven't written in over a month because I've just spent 10 days in Sudan and Darfur followed by 12 days in Zimbabwe. Haven't had any time. And now I'm excited to get back to Nairobi and get some much needed rest.

I just found out that my ex is leaving at month's end. I'm surprisingly okay with it. I'll miss him terribly, but having him close by isn't really helping me move on, even though I've really appreciated his friendship since we broke up. It's going to be lonely in Nairobi once he leaves. Hopefully new doors will open -- and preferably soon!

I promise more inspiring posts in days to come.

Lazy Sunday

Feeling a little melancholic. A lazy Sunday followed by a lazy Saturday and wishing I had more to do. Or to be more honest, more invitations to do more with others!

I seem to often feel down after socializing. Had three good friends over for dinner Friday night and had a great time with conversation flying all evening long. And then felt flat and a bit letdown the next day. I wonder why I find it so difficult to find and maintain rich, rewarding consistent relationships here in Nairobi.

In the meantime, I'm off to stock my cupboards and then will try Ultimate Frisbee at 4 pm today. It's a good crowd. Now if my legs and lungs can just keep up!

Joy and Stress

My parents depart tonight after a 10-day visit with me in Kenya and Tanzania. It's been a great trip, but yet again I've seen that I just don't handle stress well. It wasn't too big of a deal for me when their arrival got delayed two days due to a canceled flight. Compressed the trip from 12 days to 10 days, but they ended up arriving relaxed and less jet-lagged than they would have been.

Then we had the 6-hour driving days to Tanzania on Sat and back on Tuesday. Don't think I'll do those again with family. Just too much time in the car for backseat drivers to drive you crazy, especially on African roads. That also wasn't that big a deal -- and then mom got sick. For six days! She has handled it so well, and she's been able to still be part of the trip, just doing one or two short jaunts a day instead of full days out.

This last day though as we sit at my house enjoying the garden, it's stressful for me to realize we didn't have the full trip we had planned. I had a lot of great one-on-one time with my dad, and we all saw incredible animals. But both mom and dad got little feel for my daily life here. Not too big a deal -- it's just not what I expected.

So I'm taking deep breaths and trying to enjoy the last hours with them whenever mom pops up from bed feeling okay for a few minutes! Wish them an easy return home please. And wish me some new insights in how to manage stress better without reacting strongly (and typically snappishly!) when things don't go how I had hoped. Feel free to share any tips you have too please! Maybe gazing at this incredible photo?

 

Coconuts

So I feel like I'm back in the Marshall Islands. Damn water rationing. I'm having to fill up a bucket in my tub every weekend so make sure I can take a shower whenever I want. I'm so tired of shivering under a freezing, barely dripping stream of water. Not sure what I'll do when the parents arrive. Guess it's time for more buckets!

Listening to Harry Nilssen's Coconuts in honor of good Peace Corps memories. Making me want a margarita, not that I could get one there. Or just a good ole coconut with a healthy shot of rum. Yum!

I want to insert a picture but don't want to step on any copyrights. Anyone have any suggestions on reuse of photos online?

Off for a walk!