My Western Africanized World

I've been busy. Really busy. In the middle of my busyness I am trying to figure out how to live in the western world Africanized. I'm trying to figure out how to survive a 45 minute commutes both ways, make it home to dinner with my family, and still manage to volunteer, have a social life, maintain an exercise routine, and find space to meditate upon my Holy Book. It is not working. And yet it is. In the midst of the chaos in which I have created, I am doing what I love.

I love working with Africans. I love that my boss is African. I love (and hate) that my program staff in Sudan have gone MIA from the internet and I am trying to write a grant.

I love that I live with family and can have dinner with them at six o'clock- like we always have, and always will. That fish Mondays will forever remain in my home. That I can become creative in what to cook with my mother and that my dad is okay in trying new things.

I love that my best friend lives minutes from home and that her children squeal with delight when I show up and teach them how to roll down hills, and splash in puddles, and read them bed time stories and tuck them into their bed at night.

Yet I am struggling to live in this western Africanized world of mine where I go from drinking tea and saying Insha'Allah it will happen and then going home to look at pinterest. Can I do that? Sometimes I think it is easier to live in one world or the other. Not this combination world of reading, writing, and knowing about the troubles of the horn of Africa while living this comfortable life. It is hard to do.

For a while, I had a loyal fan base of readers but then I got busy. Trying to figure out how to live in Africa while I live in the US. It is a complicated city. It is a complicated, globalized world. And Insha'Allah, I will figure it out.

Big News

Oh, well hello blog. Did you miss me? The problem with me and blogging is that when big things happen in my life, I don't want to blog about it. This serves as a problem when most people run to their blog to tell the world. So when I have major things happening in my life, menial things seems relatively- well trivial, which then seems silly to blog about. The other problem is the fact that all these big things are happening and it creates very little time to blog about trivial things. So therefore, whoever actually reads this blog, is left with nada. Sorry peeps. I should figure it all out so that I don't go missing from the web when big things happen.

So big thing number one: I joined twitter. (note the sarcasm since I don't blog about big things). I did really join twitter though. And a certain dictatorship country is now following me (no, its not North Korea)- which I find to be strange. I suppose I would never get a visa to their country! Ha!

Second big thing: The trash in the bin that sits outside my office window on the street gets picked up by an electric arm that comes out of a truck. They come three times a week. I find it fascinating and I stop all form of productivity to watch- just like a toddler would.

Third big thing: I am going to buy an iphone this week and I am quite happy about it. Maybe then you will get a picture of the trash arm to prove to y'all that I am not crazy.

Thats all the news you will get from me today. I do, however, have some blog post topics related to development that are marinating. So stay tune.