Saturday 23 April 2016

No Worries!

It’s cold. 

Cold enough that I sleep with a scarf and socks under a blanket like an anemic grandma. 

If I’m outside for more than a few minutes during the day, I’m usually dreaming of a fan (unless it’s raining), but all the tank tops and shorts I brought to sleep in may have to be slowly burned in order for me to see the golden light of each dawn. 

Wednesday 20 April 2016

Werk It

"Iko wahipi?!” 

The three other men in the unmarked white van burst into surprised laughter as I hung on for dear life at the back.   

I assumed my new coworkers were laughing from the sheer pleasure of basking in my Swahili glow – most people have that reaction.  Unfortunately, they still didn’t tell me where we were.  We passed a surprised woman in the middle of hoeing her field as I tried to work out how I would start my next blog post…


Saturday 16 April 2016

Minor Adjustments

If you've ever lived in a foreign country, you understand that sometimes things happen that you can neither control nor really explain.  I carry around this foreignness with me at all times because I am somewhere between Canadian and Indian - every situation comes with two possible reactions, two paths of action, and two different outcomes.    

So I laugh at a lot. 

Mostly at myself, but also at the things that Canadians and Indians do and say that seem totally normal to them. 

But aren’t.

I’m now learning a new set of ‘normal’ and trying not to laugh (and failing).

Thursday 7 April 2016

By the Rivers of Babylon

On the plus side, there are usually
roses blooming outside
Let me explain where I live. 

It's a shoebox.

Tuesday 5 April 2016

Only a Day Away

So I’ve completed my orientation and am much less disoriented than before – promise.  I now know that there is a set of Great Lakes in Africa!  (I thought I was applying to work in a trendy suburb in Toronto, but this is fine too.)