Out of Africa

I can't believe this is my last day on this trip. My friend Chantel is coming around 1:00 p.m. to fetch me to take me to the airport for my late afternoon flight. This has been an odd trip - although, to be fair, I guess all my trips are a little odd. In this case what is jumping out at me is how happy and contented I feel right now. Truthfully, I didn't even want to go on this trip. In so many ways I was just about at my professional and personal nadir when I boarded the plane in Burlington almost two weeks ago. Now, however, I feel completely recharged, both professionally and personally. Maybe for the first time I'm starting to "get" Africa. I can say without a doubt that I've fallen in love with South Africa. I remember that it wasn't until my mystic night watching the sun go down in Mukawir in Jordan (while watching the lights of Jerusalem twinkle on and listening to the evening call to prayer from two different hillside mosques) that I understood the Middle East and grew to love it. I think it's also true that it wasn't until my second trip to India, when I disappeared into the chaos of ten of thousands of Indians (much to my friend Michelle's horror/chagrin) celebrating a Hindu festival, that I understood India and instantly fell in love with it. I can't wait to come back to Africa, and I know it will be soon.