Perception

I apologize for the week of unexciting blog posts. My days have been pretty monotonous filled with lots of writing and my nights have been the most productive they have been in a while. There have been no excursions to the city or nights out on the town, but time spent at icipe has helped me to accomplish many things on my ever increasing list.

This afternoon marked my last run outside of the icipe compound because if everything goes as planned, I will be flying to Mombasa tomorrow evening. The run was great and being my last I made a point to really take in the scenery. I wanted to go far and Rafiell hung with me to do that. The long road we ran on seemed farther than normal for Rafiell and shorter than usual for me. After about six miles, we stopped where the rest of the group was waiting for us and began our walk back. While walking, a drizzle picked up. I made a comment about how I hoped the rain would wait a while to pour. Rafiell said, “This isn’t rain. It’s just cold drops from the sky.” It’s all about perception I suppose. The rain held off for the most part and when I returned the group probably thought I was crazy for running around the compound a while longer. Returning to my room, I was drenched in rain feeling very accomplished.

The dinner tonight was leftovers from lunch. With only two people staying at the Guest House, serving leftovers makes sense. For those who eat both lunch and dinner here, though, the food gets a little old. I find humor in the fact that I can completely tell the salad they served cold for lunch is the same salad served for dinner, just cooked. I wonder if the people preparing the food think those living in the Guest House don’t notice. Some days it is hard not to.

Sitting alone for dinner for so long with only the occasional visitor joining me if we happen to go eat at the same time, I naturally sit at the same table. Tonight when I did this, a man sitting at another table said, “Why sit alone when you can have company?” I did not mean to be rude to him, I just didn’t think about it. I went over and sat with him, introducing myself and my role at icipe. He asked me a few questions about the States and inquired about the weather. I explained how from talking to people I had heard about severe droughts and heat waves. Having told him about working with climate change, he asked me what the “super powers” (the United States included) were doing to combat this issue. I gave a few solutions, but I found it interesting how other countries are looking to us to solve these problems. If no one starts working to solve the problems and we keep looking to other people, these problems will never be solved. Maybe we need to change our perception on what needs to be done and just do it.