City Days..

So long Desert days. And so, inevitably, I find myself settling into my new city life. (Although technically I am still very much in the desert, painfully evident to my sweating body as I sit in the middle of the Sahel, somewhere where the Sahara begins to transition into the 'real' Africa of childhood dreaming. The heat is unbearable some days, and the sand is, still, everywhere). But the sparkling (albeit slightly muddy colored) Nile offers respite to gaze on as I sit reading on our balcony of a weekend. I now (mostly) have a desk job in the country office which does mean A/C comfort, cafeteria lunches and fewer power outages, but sadly also means having to wear proper office clothes again (frown).  My days wandering the camps of Darfur suddenly seem very far away. I have been enjoying eating every different kind of food I can get my hands on though.. Smoked salmon anyone? Bagel and cream cheese? 4-cheese pizza & bruschetta? I have started my Arabic classes again, am playing sport again, relaxing in a certain diplomatic pool on a weekend, shopping for imported goodies, like over-priced swiss chocolate, in a real super-market, risking my life and lungs riding rick-shaws and basically remembering how to have a life as an aid-worker living in a city, as opposed to 'the field'. Living in our own appartment is wonderful too, after months of moving around the field and living in work compounds, of having personal belongings looted during times of conflict, of always having to share bathrooms, kitchens, head spaces, it is simply heavenly to have our own space. Our shoes are by the door,  we have books on the shelf and our very own pot-plants sitting on our balcony. 

But above all, life's adventures and misadventures are of course about the souls we share them with, and while it took me several years of solo wanderings to really understand this deeply, I now see my priorities in a different light. I want continued adventures, but I also want to be near to the people who make me feel alive, who offer comfort when needed and who fill me with inspiration and laughter. And so it is with happiness that, after an entire year spent on the phone, I find myself back near the person who offers me exactly that. Its good for the soul to have someone to laugh with on a daily basis, to deliver a hug when laughter is momentarily blocked, and to share the occasional plate of smoked salmon with.. 

Our very own plants. Overlooking the Nile. 

All the seemingly mundane things are suddenly seen with a new appreciation. Like chatting about your day by the kitchen sink as you do the dishes, like deciding what to eat for dinner. Its going grocery shopping together, even choosing a new bath-mat and ironing board was surprisingly entertaining. And so I am enjoying all the little things that make up the big things about companionship.  Because when they are missing from your life, there is a void in your daily life, in your heart. The transient life of a nomad we have chosen for ourselves is not an easy one for fitting the 'normality' into, or for pairing up. Distances will no doubt place themselves between us again at some point.  So for now I am going to enjoy every little part of togetherness, this normal life, this city life, this beautiful life.  Grateful for You. 


“On a day 
when the wind is perfect, 
the sail just needs to open and the world is full of beauty. 
Today is such a day.”     ~ Rumi