Friday, October 12, 2007

i can't shake this feeling



I've been back from Africa for 11 weeks.

Last week, I was watching Life is Wild, a show "supposedly" set in South Africa about a family that picks up their life and moves there to try to become a family again.

Trust me, it wasn't the Africa I know and love. However, towards the end of the show, my Africa song started playing.

And I lost it. I sat in my living room and bawled like a little baby.

I miss Africa, more importantly, I miss Kenya. I miss the kids I interacted with, I miss the friends I made, I miss Kym. I still smell Kenya every where I go. I feel like I'm losing parts of the story I knew to be there. I feel like I'm missing a piece of myself and there are times when I listen to my soundtrack that I made for Kenya and I still tear up.

The dates have been set for the 2008 trip and I am seriously reconsidering going. My heart aches for Kenya and I don't know what to do about it here in the States.

What do you do when you miss the place that makes you feel most like you?

Monday, October 08, 2007

Why It's Monday and I'm so ready for the weekend

Over the last three years, there have been few things consistent in my life. There are 5 friends that have been consistently in my life, through thick and thin.

The other is the Great American Beer Festival. 3 nights of beer from around the country, people handing out free hugs, laughing, sitting down in the midst of the convention center. Overall, each experience at the GABF has been incredibly fun.

This year, it only gets better.

My friend Bri is coming into town to visit this weekend and is joining me for the GABF. I'm so excited to see her and spend time with her and of course, to drink beer with her.

And I'm okay if this is my last GABF for a while. I don't know if my liver deserves this abuse each year, but it is consistent and who knows, maybe I'm ready for another thing to become consistent.


Friday, October 05, 2007

The reality of Kenya




My friend Bri recently sent me this article regarding the dump in Dandora.


And this is the reality of what I saw while I was there.


They aren't storks, they are pterodactyls. The site of a school next door is overwhelming because you hear the children laughing over playing together and then you see the site of what they are playing next to. To think that my friends lived next door to this and survived is amazing to me.



This is the reality of Nairobi. This is what needs help. This is affecting the communities that are near by. The government, both Kenyan and world wide governments, need to figure out a solution to this problem. Because it's dumb to think it's only affecting Kenya, it's happening in all developing countries. And it's changing people's lives.


I just wish I knew how to fix the problem. Because I can't imagine what this problem is going to be like in 50 years.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

back in the day

In my freshman year of college, I received the following as advice to live by. And for some reason tonight, they seem just as true as they did in 1998. Today just seems like the type of day that I wish I was actually living them all out.

Everyone's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) by Baz Luhrmann

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '97. Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience... I will dispense this advice now

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh, nevermind, you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now, how much possibility lay before
you and how fabulous you really looked. You are NOT as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle
Tuesday

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with your's.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives; some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40. Maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either - your
choices are half chance, so are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can... don't be afraid of it, or what other people think of it... it's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance... even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines they will only make you feel UGLY.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they might be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths. Prices will rise, Politicians will philander, you too will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're
40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia; dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts, and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

It's turning out to be a good day

So, I went to the store today to pick up some stuff. You know, the basics...tortillas, milk, coffee. When I started to look for good coffee, something caught my eye. Oh that's right...for some reason King Soopers is selling DUNKIN' DONUTS coffee. That just rocks my world. If only it came with a Dunkin' Donuts donut, that would make this day the best!

And then I get home, to put away the groceries (I mean, I do live the most exciting life ever), take out the trash and get the mail. REI magazine, insurance bill, random letter from Bank of America. Which always scares me because they own my house and who knows what they are going to claim.

Oh that's right. I just got a random ass check that's completely legit. Who doesn't love random money?!

So, not only did I get the best coffee either, I'm now rich. Maybe tomorrow I'll met some hot guy that wants to ask me out.

Well, I can dream, can't I?