The mef dreams have been intense. Mef dreams is a term we coined in south Africa for the vivid dreams people would have while taking their malaria meds. I never experienced them there – only heartburn that left my chest ablaze. But here, my dreams seem to have taken over my nights. I wake up […]
Today began with such promise. We (bushdiva (BD) and I) had an actual schedule…three different events that linked in some way to our new life here. First it was supposed to be KK introducing us to the county health department and then explaining the budget she is reviewing for the ministry of health; then K […]
I’m out of practice. I’m out of the practice of living in a developing country. And Liberia feels so different from south Africa. Actually I’m unsure if it is really that different or if I’ve just forgotten or been spoiled. Life simply requires more from you here. From washing clothes to shopping in town…there is […]
I hauled my first water…and my second. Apparently the stuff flowing from the taps isn’t potable so instead, we (or in this case, I) join the ranks of my community members and pump a metal handle furiously for five minutes until the water finally emerges slow and shy and crystal clear –though still not clean […]
Cold water is what stays on my mind. Never mind the almost five hour delay in brussles where all 14 volunteers finally managed to find each other (we aren’t that difficult to spot), or the fact that a man being deported wailed and moaned indecipherably at the back of the plane before mysteriously quieting after […]
I was struck by her furtive glances. Flashlight shining into the darkness, every towering flower and blooming bush suddenly a threat to safety and a sense of home. More than her favorite purse or credit cards, the thief that held up my friend this weekend stole her peace of mind. Watching her from my car […]
No matter how small my world may feel, the people in it are huge. These looming figures that make an impact even when I least realize…and all the more when I know it is happening. And the older I get – time passing in a steady quickening stream- the more people there are to have […]
the notion of home has always been less place and more people. a military brat traipsing with my family hither and yon, the word home has always conjured up the faces of my parents and sister assembled hodge podge on my parents’ bed. it never mattered where the bed was, only that we were all […]
death seems to be in the air. seemingly contagious. fawcett, jackson, mcman. today mcnair. people react in a myriad of ways. a return to 1985 with folks crying and falling out over micheal. bereaved as if he were family. as if they knew him more intimately than simply his voice in song. there are tributes […]
i’m not a religious person so it may seem a strange thing to struggle with…but i was brought up in a religious family. and my ideals haven’t strayed far from where they started. so grace isn’t foreign to me. i think of grace as a gift we are wish to receive and as such should […]
Recent Comments