Reflections

Late Posting written in Jan 2017 As I sit here on a Friday evening by my heater after all this week of business, I'm feeling reflective and reminiscent. Drew and I have been back to the states now for almost 9 months after living overseas in Mozambique. Drew and I are both working, and the time has flown past. Somehow I have gotten sucked into this busy lifestyle. We are always doing something, always going somewhere, meeting someone, running this or that errand, working on something. Americans are so independent. we have touted this to be a good thing - to be self reliant. In some ways it is. Also, in some ways it is not. Today I am missing Africa. I miss walking down the road and seeing little groups of people talking to each other, genuinely enjoying simply spending time with each other. Cheerful, laughing, and always welcoming a new person to chat. The simplicity of life, the lack of distractions, the beauty of such a social culture and the happiness that it brings - this is what I am missing today. When I stand back and watch the social interactions of plenty of Americans, they almost never seem so free. It seems every conversation has to have a specific purpose, and once that purpose is fulfilled, it's over. Everyone has a plan, an agenda that they must stick to because they are busy. If it so happens they are not busy, they either want to appear busy, or not interrupt someone else who might be busy. Busy people are perceived as important. People who are not busy are viewed as lazy. I know this does not apply to everyone, it's just my general observation. As a result, people are not as happy. It is evident on the faces of so many I see. People are more socially isolated, claiming they "don't have time" to spend with family or friends, and often feel they would be an intrusion on other people's time. Time is precious here, and Americans want to be more and more time efficient. I find myself thinking this way as well! How many things can I pack into this time that I have? How productive can I be during this free moment. I still had a drive to be productive and efficient while in Mozambique, but Africa has this way of rubbing off on you, and I feel myself missing the times I threw efficiency and productivity to the wind (mostly because it was impossible to obtain) to visit with friends, go to the beach, play some games, or just relax on the roof of our house. Today when I left the house to go to work it was 1 degree F outside. It had snowed for the last day and a half, bringing us a couple of inches and some slick roads. It's the kind of cold that gets into your core and makes you chilly all day. Wind chill was -11, and things become frozen solid very quickly outside. Today just happened to be the day that one of my friends in Mozambique posted a short clip of the Mozambican beach on a perfect day - the sun, the beautiful blue water gently lapping on the shore, a boat gently rocking, a thatch roof on the shore across the way. Ahhh.... This may have inspired some of the missing of Mozambique as well. I especially yearn for the beach in weather like we are having now. It seems like this weekend would be the perfect time to slip away for a little sun, white sand, and clear blue water. This past year has been a year of change for Drew and I. We had to close up a project in Mozambique that was dear to our hearts and it was painful. We moved from sea level with extreme humidity, to >5000ft elevation with little to no humidity. We went from living in the bush to living in suburbia, from a place with limited resources, to one of limitless shopping and every convenience. This time last year was when we were starting to see the real effects of the drought on our vegetable farm with extreme heat, scorched crops, and our irrigation supply of water becoming very low and brackish. It was a time of turmoil, prayer, and searching. After our course of action was made clear (Thank You God!), we then set forth on the exit strategy. This proved quite difficult. We sold all our things, packed up all the farm equipment and sold/donated to a farm up north that was in need and the drought was not as bad. We left our 1st home as a married couple and our friends who had become so dear. We came to Denver as it seemed that God closed one door and opened another, in perfect timing. Drew stepped immediately into work the day he arrived in Denver, as the company had been anxiously awaiting his arrival. This left little time for re-adjustment to American culture, barely enough time to recover from jet lag. It seems we have just gotten swept up in everything and haven't had time to reflect. To most people here, it is as Mozambique never happened. If it ever comes up in conversation, the other party often does not know what to do with this information. No questions asked, no interest, the subject is dropped. I think it is because it is such a foreign concept - living in Africa - that people just cannot relate at all. They can ask you all kinds of questions if you saw the last football game, or ate at the same restaurant, but starting a company in a third world, Portuguese speaking country... it's too strange. This phenomenon makes me sad. I think I would adjust better to living in America again if I could talk about Africa. Like therapy! Praise the Lord for my husband. We talk about Mozambique all the time, and it's been good for us. We are both missing Mozambique right about now, not just the beaches, but the people/culture/experience/purpose. On a more upbeat note, I am really enjoying working as a PA again. This work is very fulfilling to me. I love explaining complex medical diagnosis/treatment in an easy way for patient's to understand. And it is incredibly refreshing to be back in a hospital setting. I am always looking forward to seeing the next patient and find myself smiling as I walk through the halls of the hospital.