Maybe you read this title and thought I was about to go into some long, pathetic, development-worker tirade about Africa and Poverty and Genocide and AFRICA. If you thought that, you obviously don't know me that well.
So, here we go:
1. The excellent caprese salads I have had while here. Impossible to find in Palestine. The tomatoes here are out of control! (honestly, this is the first thing that came to mind. Pathetic, no?)
2. My college friend Steve, who has showed me around like a champion, including taking a break from his normal life to eat with me EVERY NIGHT so I don't have to eat alone. This business traveler sure appreciates that - the eating alone gets old real fast.
3. The lovely Rwandan people, who have resurrected my faith in Sub-Saharan Africa, and their stunning country, which reminded me that just when I think I've been everywhere, there's way more places to go.
4. The moto drivers who have ridden me all around this damn town, grin on face, life in their hands.
5. The random expat I met through Steve last night, a Consummate Expat type, who made me drive his stick shift around the hills of Kigali so I could say I've driven stick in the Middle East, North Africa, the US, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
6. My parents, who instilled in me (or, genetically gave to me) both a complete lack of fear of anything and the rash confidence to believe a) i'll be fine b) i'll be able to do it c) only pansies say no. That attitude allowed items 5 and 4 (above) to happen.
So, here we go:
1. The excellent caprese salads I have had while here. Impossible to find in Palestine. The tomatoes here are out of control! (honestly, this is the first thing that came to mind. Pathetic, no?)
2. My college friend Steve, who has showed me around like a champion, including taking a break from his normal life to eat with me EVERY NIGHT so I don't have to eat alone. This business traveler sure appreciates that - the eating alone gets old real fast.
3. The lovely Rwandan people, who have resurrected my faith in Sub-Saharan Africa, and their stunning country, which reminded me that just when I think I've been everywhere, there's way more places to go.
4. The moto drivers who have ridden me all around this damn town, grin on face, life in their hands.
5. The random expat I met through Steve last night, a Consummate Expat type, who made me drive his stick shift around the hills of Kigali so I could say I've driven stick in the Middle East, North Africa, the US, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
6. My parents, who instilled in me (or, genetically gave to me) both a complete lack of fear of anything and the rash confidence to believe a) i'll be fine b) i'll be able to do it c) only pansies say no. That attitude allowed items 5 and 4 (above) to happen.
7. The friends I have made in Ramallah. I miss them. They're great. They're funny, and smart, and kind, and I am looking forward to spending more time with them. I am really thankful for that - they've restored my faith in the expat life many a time when I have struggled with it throughout this year. And I know some of them, at least, are without question for keeps.
8. My work, for being so exponentially better than the job I had previously (love you, but sorry). To spend the week mucking through technical specs and talking to kids and employers to develop a service that will fill so many needs - and to literally see people's faces light up when they hear about it or see the demo. That, my dear readers, is Thanksgiving enough.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
8. My work, for being so exponentially better than the job I had previously (love you, but sorry). To spend the week mucking through technical specs and talking to kids and employers to develop a service that will fill so many needs - and to literally see people's faces light up when they hear about it or see the demo. That, my dear readers, is Thanksgiving enough.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
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