Corners and Chapters

Just a few days left in Kenya. It's hard to look at endings. I didn't realize how much of a nest I built up here with the help of some wonderful friends. Something about the environment - whether it's planning a weekend adventure, finding the best peanut butter at the grocery store, figuring out how to cook new vegetables or navigating ever-changing security issues.... This is a place to make fast friends.

Saying good bye to C, my coworker, housemate and best friend here was especially hard. Who knows when we will meet again, Australia being where it is. (Really Australia... so far!)  But sad as I am, I feel lucky to have met him. It is a great reminder that a new best friend might always be around the corner.

So, speaking of what's around the corner: While I'm putting finishing touches on my life novel entitled "filmaid: my first real job," I'm also setting up my Yale Divinity School email and perusing classes for the fall. The identity shift from working-for-salary to all-for-the-sake-of-knowledge hasn't happened quite yet, but it's out there. I'm excited.

And in the meantime, a beautiful chapter of vacation and life adventures has just started. Mom has been here for a week. We have enjoyed breakfast with elephants in the Maasai Mara, meeting my Nairobi friends, nursing me back to health from an infection (thanks Mom!) and most recently a harrowing hike around the rim of a volcano crater. Let's just say it involved more rock climbing than she bargained for. Basically my mom is a champion, first to fly herself to Nairobi and second to go on these adventures I've (mostly, sometimes inadequately) planned!

That's all for now. Thankfully part of finishing with FilmAid was also giving back my laptop, which means I am largely screen-free for three months! So at the risk of being bad at email and posting less often... I am enjoying reading actual books, looking at things far away and making more eye contact. What a concept.

Much love, friends.