I am so exhausted, and so happy.
I am dreading leaving Africa, and so excited to be with my friends and family.
I am frustrated, and fulfilled.
Life in Africa is a giant contradiction.
It is the most frustrating place on Earth (except maybe the DMV) and also the most beautiful place on Earth.
This weekend, my friends and I took a last minute trip to a beach town called Tanga.
You drive through the slums, through the vast countryside, which is beautiful and looks like you're driving through the Lion King, through some more slums, and come out in a beautiful African Paradise.
It was an incredible weekend. But getting to and from Tanga by bus is a Hell I would not wish upon my worst enemy.
Picture a greyhound bus, with teeny tiny seats, where your knees don't fit at all, even if you're short like me, fill it to the brim with people in every seat, people on laps, people standing, kids throwing up, crying babies, make it 100 degrees Fahrenheit, add the fact that most people on this bus have never worn deodorant, and do that for over eight hours.
It's worth it for the incredible weekend break in Tanga, but it's freaking frustrating.
But then, also put in that bus, your wonderful friends whom you have grown to love with your whole heart.
And put in a little slap-happiness, and you can turn this aggravating trek into a great memory.
Today, on the ride home, I sat in a three-seater with my friend Lauren, and we just did not have the patience to be cramped in the seat, so we took a blanket, rolled it up, put it on the seat between us, and pretended it was a baby. Every time someone came by to sit in the seat we would pet the blanket, and say, "Shhh, it's okay, Freddie, don't cry." We named the baby Freddie Prinze the Third. We definitely had cabin fever. Somehow, we got away with it, and we basically just laughed at our baby for eight hours straight.
Bare with my weird story, I'm still over-exhausted.
What I'm trying to say in a very round-about way, is that I have learned to turn frustrating situations into good memories.
Five months ago, if you had put me on that bus, I would have screamed the entire time.
Now, I just turn bedding into babies, and go with the flow.
I got here at the end of November, and I was often frustrated with many things I saw and experienced around Tanzania.
The education system, the cultural norms, the men, the food-service industry, the public transportation, everything.
Now, these are my norms, this is my life.
I don't know what I'll do when I go "home". It now feels weird to call America home.
I don't know what I'll do when I go out to eat, and food comes in less than two hours, when people are on time, when guys are respectful to me around town, when everyone is in a rush, when I always have to be somewhere NOW.
My friend Samantha is here for my last two weeks, which has made me so happy, but I can't help but laugh every time she gets frustrated. When she says "How freakin long does it take to make a pizza?" and I reply, "could take all day, this is Africa."
These things that used to make me so angry, are now normal, I'm used to them, and I actually kind of relish them. This is part of life in Africa.
I'm sure it will be nice for a while to have people be on time and have things be quick, and not having twelve kids hanging all over me all the time, but I will miss it.
Someone once told me, "In America, you've got clocks, but in Africa, we've got time."
This is so true.
We've got time.
But, I actually don't have much time left now.
I'll be leaving my home in one weeks and four days.
I might puke.
Do not get me wrong, I am so excited and ready to be back in the familiar with my loved ones, but I now have a new familiar. A new normal.
My heart is being torn in two at the moment.
The closer it gets to the 2nd of May, the more excited I get about going back to the States, and the more upset I get at the prospect of leaving Africa, and my kids.
This is just a rant, and like I said, I am extremely exhausted, but these are my thoughts, and that's that.
Have a great day, everyone, and don't let the little things getcha down.
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