My life
has always been completely hectic—always having a place to go, something to do,
or people to see. Being in Africa has been quite the adjustment. As I’ve been
blogging, you have probably realized people here have absolutely no sense of
time at all. They go about their days showing up hours late to meetings, not
planning anything until last minute, and changing their minds frequently.
Staying at icipe I have also had
quite a bit of time on my hands. Being the person I am, I’ve made lists of
things I need to do before I leave and still keep a planner (even though it’s
practically empty). The adjustment was a challenge at first. I’ve never
experienced so much time on my hands and safety constraints on me to ensure
nothing happens. I come back to my room after every day at work with at least
four hours to do what I choose. Nights of five hours of sleep are no longer the
case, as I have enough time to get at least eight, if not more. On the
weekends, I’ve tried to stay busy—joining in on other people’s activities or
planning trips around to see more of Kenya. But today, I realized, being sent
to Africa, or a country such as Kenya (to be more specific), is a message to
me. That maybe, I don’t always need to be moving. Maybe everyone needs a break
at some point and this is mine.
So today,
I did absolutely nothing. Well, almost. I lived the Kenyan lifestyle, at the
least. Got up late, went for a run, did some laundry, sat outside to read a
book, and so my day continues. I still find it slightly challenging, but sometimes
it’s nice to just sit back and relax.
I also
thought people would be interested in where I spend all this time, so here are
some pictures of my room at the Guest House.
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