Well, folks, the time has come for me to call it a blogging day. I'm heading home tonight. And honestly I have to say that I can't wait to get there.
But I'm truly going to miss this place. It's an incredible, wonderful little island that I've had the unique privilege to be a part of over the past nearly three months. The whole experience has been one that I won't soon forget. There were the trips into the incredible countryside. And the Sooner football games that started at 2am and ended as the sun was coming up. And the chance to get to know a country I hadn't even heard of much before my arrival -- a country full of arguably some of the most humble and friendly people you will ever meet.
There's a lot for someone like me to learn here. Like compassion, for example. The natural tendency to complain about these people who don't smell like us disappears after you've been here for a while -- once you realize that a great many of them have so very little. And that a bath means going down to the local river and doing the best you can to keep yourself, your kids, and your clothes clean. You have to admire them. But that's all part of how Equatorial Guinea grows on you.
And some of us learn to do other new and interesting things. Like cooking, for example. I've never really been much for doing much in the kitchen, apart from picking up the plate of food that some other kind soul (AKA, Kathy) has fixed. Here, it's been a much different story. It's provided me with the chance to learn how to fend for myself in a grocery store, fix meals on a hapless little electric stove top appliance, and to actually enjoy doing it. I've still got a lot to learn, but I've made some progress while I've been here.
And lastly, there's been this blog thing. What a fun pastime it's provided me with (okay, with an occasional game of online cribbage tossed in). Thanks, Sam (and Jess), for giving me the inspiration. And thanks, Katie, for being one of my loyal blogger groupies.
Okay, that's going to have to do it for this chapter at least. I'll close by just encouraging anyone with the least inkling to visit Africa to consider this little place. May your adventures here be as wonderful as mine have been.
As they say here, "gracias por haberme acompañado durante este viaje tan increíble" -- thanks for having joined me on this incredible journey, my friends.
But I'm truly going to miss this place. It's an incredible, wonderful little island that I've had the unique privilege to be a part of over the past nearly three months. The whole experience has been one that I won't soon forget. There were the trips into the incredible countryside. And the Sooner football games that started at 2am and ended as the sun was coming up. And the chance to get to know a country I hadn't even heard of much before my arrival -- a country full of arguably some of the most humble and friendly people you will ever meet.
There's a lot for someone like me to learn here. Like compassion, for example. The natural tendency to complain about these people who don't smell like us disappears after you've been here for a while -- once you realize that a great many of them have so very little. And that a bath means going down to the local river and doing the best you can to keep yourself, your kids, and your clothes clean. You have to admire them. But that's all part of how Equatorial Guinea grows on you.
And some of us learn to do other new and interesting things. Like cooking, for example. I've never really been much for doing much in the kitchen, apart from picking up the plate of food that some other kind soul (AKA, Kathy) has fixed. Here, it's been a much different story. It's provided me with the chance to learn how to fend for myself in a grocery store, fix meals on a hapless little electric stove top appliance, and to actually enjoy doing it. I've still got a lot to learn, but I've made some progress while I've been here.
And lastly, there's been this blog thing. What a fun pastime it's provided me with (okay, with an occasional game of online cribbage tossed in). Thanks, Sam (and Jess), for giving me the inspiration. And thanks, Katie, for being one of my loyal blogger groupies.
Okay, that's going to have to do it for this chapter at least. I'll close by just encouraging anyone with the least inkling to visit Africa to consider this little place. May your adventures here be as wonderful as mine have been.
As they say here, "gracias por haberme acompañado durante este viaje tan increíble" -- thanks for having joined me on this incredible journey, my friends.
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