Finding rhythms in the daily

It's easy to get comfortable in your routine and feel like there's nothing to report on. There are no epic travels (soon to change when momma and poppa Billick get here and we hit up Botswana and Cape Town, nothing so new and titillating and exciting that I feel the need to sit down and word vomit onto a webpage or a blogpost. But in that comfort zone friendships are built and sustained, work is accomplished, things are learned (grant-writing, in my case), and epic times, casual times, memories are created in the safe zone.

Jamie's house is an African oasis. He lives in a guest house behind an older couple who have lived in Zambia for decades. His cabana (for lack of a better word...although I really SHOULD start calling him their cabana boy...) is amidst a lush flower-filled garden, next to a sheltered bar and table area outdoors, and wedged next to a pool that adds the perfect lounge factor to any hot weekend afternoon.

The slowing down of VCT events on Saturdays (at least compared to in the fall...we still have them about every other week) allows for more time and space to relax. Less constant hyperdrive. The last Saturday of each month is the Dutch Market, a panoply of crafts - both Zambian and imported - clothes, blankets, decorations, jewelry, food (all kinds of hard-to-get ethnic things here like big Chinese dumplings, French crepes, salsa, street-food-like noodles, etc.) and a generally jovial atmosphere. I'm going to hit it up tomorrow with a few of the other interns. My new room (I moved after Lena, one of the fellows, moved out) and the walls are looking far to bare for my liking...