Life After Africa

I haven't been writing lately because after seven weeks of living it up, it just didn't feel like anything I did after Africa was all that interesting. However true that may be, I feel the need to write again after decompressing a bit and gaining a little bit of perspective.

Last weekend we drove back home to the Milwaukee area to visit our parents. That was fun and it's really nice to drive on nice, paved roads and stop at delicious fast-food restaurants that are horrible for you. Ahh, convenience.

But, I miss Africa. Maybe it's the fact that it's snowing in Minnesota today or that there's a really annoying two-year-old election taking place. Or maybe it's the fact that things are more expensive and it's hard to find anything at the grocery store that doesn't have too much packaging. In the US, most people are far more worried about their 401k's than their national parks.

In Africa, if you tried to explain that 35% of your entire life savings just disappeared you'd be met with a friendly "Hakuna Matata" and a reminder that you can live off of a lot less than you're used to and be twice as happy. People would also wonder why we're strip mining our beautiful mountains when even the poorest African knows that you can make more money off of tourism and conservation than destroying your land.

The high in Arusha for Monday is a perfect 85 degrees and although it's 11:30pm right now it's still 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Maybe instead of being spoiled with material possessions, they're spoiled with great weather all the time. While faced with another winter in ND, I'm really torn on which I would pick if I had the choice!

Yes, I miss Africa and after just two weeks home both Nathan and I agree that we wouldn't mind going back for a couple of years if the opportunity arose. At least there, we wouldn't be faced with the prospect of having to campaign in the blowing sleet.