My mom is somewhere in transit right now, on her birthday, to come and see me. I am so excited. Wait a minute, it’s only 12 here so maybe she’s just starting her journey. Who knows but by tomorrow night around 9 pm-ish my time, she’ll be here in SA! It’s been almost a year since I’ve seen her (or anyone in my family) and I can’t wait for a great big long mom hug. I hope her birthday is filled with fun travel stories and just happiness in general.
Last Friday was my birthday. It was a great day. Jason and I started the day off early so we could catch a taxi to Johannesburg. Despite the fact that I set my alarm early and did most of my packing the night before, I was still ready after him and doing last minute things as I was running out the door. Even though we were out the door, I still had to stop and talk to my neighbor and was going to stop at the next house to play with the cute new puppies that were yapping and coming up to me but Jason wouldn’t let me. I feel his patience was being tested just a little bit by my ability to take hours to leave the house (or the village) no matter how valiant my efforts to pack and do as much as possible the night before. Anyway, we made it to the taxi rank and after a couple hours when the taxi finally filled up, we were on our way…
…And ended up having the most uncomfortable taxi ride I’ve ever had here. Most taxis put 4 people in the last row, 4 in the next row and then 3 in the row right behind the driver but there are a select few that can actually fit 4 in the row right behind the driver. This was one of them. Usually it’s not a problem but it seemed as though all the small and narrow people sat in the back 2 rows and were lounging as if it were a private car, while Jason and I and 2 others sat together – each one of us in our row had the broadest shoulders of all in the taxi. We were literally squished into our row, we could not actually sit shoulder to shoulder. Despite all our efforts, our butts and legs and everything else was screaming to get out and just stand by the time our taxi made it to JHB – and that was with 2 stops along the way.
We made it and eventually, after a walk through a bustling market wearing our hardest, don’t mess with me faces, we made it to the bus station where Leigh came to pick us up. We were supposed to meet Tanya, but she ended up joining up with us later – which is a whole other story in itself!
Leigh and Sue were amazing and hosted a dinner party in my honor. Most the people I work with and have spent some time with in Johannesburg were there. Dinner was amazing, the conversation was good and the company was spectacular. Sue had whipped up a dark chocolate mousse and we had a champagne toast. It was a beautiful and fun evening that lasted late into the wee hours of the morning. And I got to relive it all the next day when our alarm went off early (so we could get on a plane) and I was still feeling the 3 glasses of champagne, 3 glasses of wine and one gin & tonic I had from the night’s festivities.
Now Jason and I are in Durban, we’ve had an interesting couple of days but I’m saving that for the next time I’m on a computer. Right now my time is running out at the internet café and we still have to do a bit of grocery shopping and lounging on the beach to do. Oh how I love vacation!!
Oh – and thanks to all whom sent me messages for my birthday!
Monday, July 16, 2007
Thursday, July 5, 2007
missing Aasta
It’s late and I should be tired and going to sleep. Jason is wrapped up in a cocoon of blankets in bed right now, unable to fight it off any longer. I am just happy to have him here, in my room, in my daily life even if it is just for a few short weeks. Cooking dinner is more fun, cleaning up the dishes afterwards is a simpler task and splurging on pounds of candy brought from home is just more exciting with him around.
There is so much going through my mind right now, a million things on my to-do list before I leave for my vacation on the 13th. Work is keeping me busy and having Jason here is keeping me entertained. With all of this going on my friend Aasta smsed (sent a text message) and said that she was in the hospital with a knee injury. The next thing I know she is calling me and telling that she is being medically separated for the injury – meaning PC is sending her home and she is finished with her service. It was a sudden decision made by PC Washington and I’m not entirely convinced it was a good one based on the lack of information they obtained about her injury. But what’s done is done and she is already home and figuring out the next step of her life. My boss is amazing and understanding and had no problem with me taking a few days to spend with her in Pretoria before she left.
For a brief moment, while we were all sitting around her expensive room at the guest house, I wanted to be in her shoes. I didn’t envy her bum knee but she was going home and facing the next phase of her life – she wouldn’t have to deal with the ineptness of the PC office, the daily frustrations of communicating in the village & at work, the general indescribable feeling of being a PCV. I wanted to be in her place, seeing my family and not having to deal with constantly being tested. It was a funny feeling because I know I love where I live. I love the work I do but some days I guess it is a conscious effort to say, yes, I’m going to stick out the whole 2 years. Sometimes I wish a decision could be made for me to be done with it and get back to living an “easy” life. But it’s always a fleeting feeling and though I looked at her and wanted to be in her place I knew that it wasn’t meant to be like that. I know I would be crushed as she is, to leave my friends, my new family, my work, all of the future projects that I have planned – it would be difficult to do that knowing that there is still so much I want to do and see and experience. So I guess if I can see that happening to my friend and share her pain, I can appreciate that staying here, my own conscious effort to, is really where I’m supposed to be. And for Aasta, she has a different path to discover despite it not being the one she planned on following. I am glad that our paths crossed – she’s an amazing person and will come out on top despite how life trips up her plans.
There is so much going through my mind right now, a million things on my to-do list before I leave for my vacation on the 13th. Work is keeping me busy and having Jason here is keeping me entertained. With all of this going on my friend Aasta smsed (sent a text message) and said that she was in the hospital with a knee injury. The next thing I know she is calling me and telling that she is being medically separated for the injury – meaning PC is sending her home and she is finished with her service. It was a sudden decision made by PC Washington and I’m not entirely convinced it was a good one based on the lack of information they obtained about her injury. But what’s done is done and she is already home and figuring out the next step of her life. My boss is amazing and understanding and had no problem with me taking a few days to spend with her in Pretoria before she left.
For a brief moment, while we were all sitting around her expensive room at the guest house, I wanted to be in her shoes. I didn’t envy her bum knee but she was going home and facing the next phase of her life – she wouldn’t have to deal with the ineptness of the PC office, the daily frustrations of communicating in the village & at work, the general indescribable feeling of being a PCV. I wanted to be in her place, seeing my family and not having to deal with constantly being tested. It was a funny feeling because I know I love where I live. I love the work I do but some days I guess it is a conscious effort to say, yes, I’m going to stick out the whole 2 years. Sometimes I wish a decision could be made for me to be done with it and get back to living an “easy” life. But it’s always a fleeting feeling and though I looked at her and wanted to be in her place I knew that it wasn’t meant to be like that. I know I would be crushed as she is, to leave my friends, my new family, my work, all of the future projects that I have planned – it would be difficult to do that knowing that there is still so much I want to do and see and experience. So I guess if I can see that happening to my friend and share her pain, I can appreciate that staying here, my own conscious effort to, is really where I’m supposed to be. And for Aasta, she has a different path to discover despite it not being the one she planned on following. I am glad that our paths crossed – she’s an amazing person and will come out on top despite how life trips up her plans.
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