Looking around

After all this time here, where in some ways life seems slower, it now completely feels to be rushing. Not that time hasn't flown by, but now things are changing and I need to be more active in choosing the direction of my own life again. As all of that dawns on me, how I have to go back to what I probably used to consider a normal amount of decision making, I also realize that my chances to look around this crazy place where I live are not for long, that opportunity is ending.

And, as I struggle to write, I understand that there are trade-offs for all these things. I miss reading the New York Times now. In four months or whenever, I will miss the endless greetings that are the start of every day in Fara Fenni. It's my favorite part of the day - the early time, before the heat is too oppresive, before everyone is fully awake and into their day. I even want to get up early so that I have plenty of time to take a couple of buckets to the water tap. I greet the women, some as they wait around the tap for their own buckets to have a chance to fill, some as they sweep the compound or do whatever they are busy doing. I also sweep my hut, and often clean my solar panel. Sometimes I carry water for the women, or do some washing if I have a few things. The most important part is just checking in with everyone, asking if they had a peaceful night, if they slept well. Questions that we might ask back home, but not of every person we saw in the morning. The simple routines, the daily beauty of this life, that's what I will miss the most.

I put up a few new pictures (from Amy's trip) on the flickr page. Hope everyone is well and having good adventures of their own...