New Normal

Things I don't love so much here:

• Corruption
• Dust
• Cacophony of dogs howling and barking all night
• Feeling of constantly being ripped off for being white (i.e. rich)
• Feeling constantly like I should pay more because I am white (i.e. rich)
• Burning garbage 
• Arriving for a 9:30am meeting, to be told at 11:20am that madam will not arrive until 2pm
• Hearing that madam has been delayed because one of the staff members who had been sick in hospital was given acid to drink by her husband who didn't know how he would pay the hospital bill

Things that are becoming our new normal:

• Hearing stories like that everyday, told with a smile 
• Sleeping under a mosquito net
• Boda boda rides to town
• Piki piki for three (driver and me and Terry... no helmets)
• Locking the padlock at night
• Bars on windows
• "How are you?"
• Power outages (conversations don't even skip a beat as the room goes from light to black and back again)
• Questionable toilets

Things I love here:

• Sequins and satin and fancy hair-do's that are more than the dusty roads call for
• Hand claps and songs to welcome and appreciate guests
• Handshakes and smiles all around as a greeting
• Karibu!  (Welcome in Swahili)
• Herds of scruffy cows, or goats, or chickens that pop up out of nowhere
• The scurry of geckos as I approach the front porch
• The song birds that are our constant companion
• Purple and orange and hot pink shops
• Mangoes, paw paws, passion fruit, and sweet bananas
• Ground nuts
• Hot sun and cool breezes
• Lush, green hillsides
• Faces that tell a thousand stories