525,600 Minutes

Exactly one year ago I was passed out in a dentist’s chair having my wisdom teeth removed because PC told me I had to. I had no idea where I would be going, what I would be doing, or if I would even go through with it. And now, one year later, I’m writing this from the middle of Kenya. A lot of times I think about my life as if it’s a movie, and how this would be portrayed as me typing this and then flash back to the dentist’s office in Hawaii a year ago, then flash through scenes throughout the past year…What song would be playing in the background, I wonder?

This is going to be a really lame post, because this was a really lame week. I haven’t been out of my town for two weeks straight. There’s still not much to do at work. Moving’s been put on hold indefinitely until the current tenant can find a new place to live. The language weekend that was cancelled last weekend is rescheduled for next weekend. I’m hoping that the weekend will give me enough practice to pass the LPI early and not have to stress about Kiswahili anymore. It’s not that I don’t know the language, it’s just that I don’t use it very often, which makes a conversation in a testing situation fairly difficult. Then it will be on to learning Kikuyu. Also, it was just announced that one of our PC Kenya staff is leaving to work with PC in another country next month, so we’ll be getting someone new to fill that position.

And March is still March. No matter where I go—despite climate, schedule, or circumstance—March drags on and on. Obviously in the Northeast it’s not exactly a pleasant month weather-wise, alternating between thawing and making mud everywhere and then snowing or wintry mixing all over everything just when we thought spring was coming. When I was in school, it was the thick of the semester when the end still wasn’t in sight and the work started piling up. In college it was midterms and registering for next semester and everyone getting sick. By the time I got to Hawaii, I thought it would be different, but though the weather was better, it was still a blah month. Here is proving to be no exception. After racing through February, I can’t believe we’re only halfway through March. Adding to that, since our seasons are switched on this side of the equator, we’re heading into the rainy season, not out of it. And after that it gets cold.

However, something that keeps amazing me (that I think I’ve mentioned before, so sorry for the repetition) is that time always passes. There’s no stopping it, reversing it, or changing it. No matter how excruciatingly slow or blindingly fast the minutes tick by, they never stop ticking. Despite our perception, they carry on in a steady, constant march forward. Just knowing that makes the tough times bearable and the good times that much more precious.

Miss you all! Love me