If you haven't read this book - go to a bookstore right now and get it. (it's very possible that I missed the boat on this one, and everyone else has indeed read this. If so, just enjoy the quotation below) Alan Paton's book is beautiful. To give you a small taste, from the 1987 Scribner publication:
"There is calling here, and in the dusk one voice calls to another in some far distant place. If you are a Zulu you can hear what they say, but if you are not, even if you know the language, you would find it hard to know what is being called. Some white men call it magic, but it is no magic, only an art perfected. It is Africa, the beloved country."
it's 6:37 a.m., and i've been awake for 2 hours. I always have great ambitions of reading history books, going to the gym (ha), or getting work done with these extra hours given so generously to me by my good friend Jet Lag.
You might think this is a golden opportunity: my disgusting cold has diminished to the point where I can almost breathe comfortably again, I have several new books to read (thanks, family), and loads of free time. But somehow I find myself unable to work; unable to redeem these 8 hours' difference between what my body accepts as daytime and what the world says are correct operating hours.
I find jet lag (as one small part of the larger thing that is travel) to be very isolating. During the wee morning hours you're bright and chipper - but nobody else is awake. Then as everyone starts to wake up, you are ready for action - but it takes hours for people to get ready. You're thinking, people get moving already- I have been awake for 5 hours and am waiting for you! You get a couple good hours from 11-2, where you are alive and so is everyone else. But then the afternoon looms and you start to fade, fade from sight. Nobody can bring you back, and you find yourself asleep on the leather couch, while everyone else is watching that NBA game. Even the shouts 'Come on, Ref!' don't awaken you. Then it's morning and you're awake at 4 once again. Just when you thought you were getting over it. This goes on for about a week, and as you finally just resign yourself to only having 6 waking hours' overlap with normal human beings each day, you are back. And you wish that you had savoured the early morning magic and the ability to wake up without an alarm.
what I'm really saying here is this - does anybody have good tips for what to do with those morning hours? I know all the rules about recovery - get exercise, don't nap, drink water, give yourself 1 day for every hour of difference... but what do you do with yourself?
It's been said (mostly by me)- that nobody does Christmas as well as Europe. This past weekend, I met up with my dear friend Anna for a quick visit to Vienna. Anna is living in Bratislava, an hour train ride from Vienna, so we made plans to stay at her friend's apartment and wander around the city on my way back from Uganda. (I know, try to keep up! The flight pattern was: Uganda-Amsterdam-Vienna-Amsterdam-DC) Anna & I had a little less than 48 hours, so thankfully Anna had been to Vienna several times before - plus I had some great recommendations from Ian (thanks!). I have such internationally savvy friends! We started hitting a micro-brewery calledSalm Bräu - let's just say Vienna is the place to go for meat & beer lovers... it was delicious! I ate this potato-ham-pasta thing, and Anna & I tried various beers of course. Then we wandered through Karntnerstrasse and Karlsplatz, hit up the Kuntschalle cafe - it was time to re-caffeinate and de-thaw. No, everything in Vienna does not begin with the letter 'K,' but you would be surprised at how fun it is to make up fake German words and pretend like you're a local! We wandered through Naschmarkt - the largest 'Kriskindlemarkt' in the whole world. Vienna is famous for these outdoor markets at Christmastime - many many stalls ('stallen') with lots of trinkets and potential Christmas presents. Saturday evening, Anna & I attended a concert by the Vienna Residence Orchestra - hosted inside a palace, and complete with dancers, opera singers, and full period costumes. If you ever go to Vienna, this is my highest recommendation. The music by Mozart and Strauss, in the city where they composed and performed these masterpieces - music that kings & queens danced to, it speaks to the soul. After 300 years, the music is still genuine. The first violinist played on an instrument from Mozart's time period - can you imagine a 300 year old violin making such beautiful sounds? For a taste - see here, although filming this was against the rules..... no respect, people. and the dancers were annoying & detracted from the music. just my opinion. Sunday morning, Anna and I traipsed over to the Hotel Sacher for a taste of brunch and the world-famous Sacher Torte. Needless to say - delicious, and worth every single calorie. Next we visited the Art History Museum - inside yet another palace. We wandered amongst the ancient art from Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Europe, and then sat and talked about life. By dusk we wandered around the beautiful buildings, all lit up for Christmas surrounded in lovely snow... only in Europe. It felt like magic. We walked over to Ratthouse, the new-ish municipal building. The Ratthouse is turned into a giant advent calendar at Christmastime, with one of the windows opened up for each day in advent. Ate some bratwurst, drank punzch, and got ourselves lost in the city.
Anna was sweet to wake up with me at 3 a.m. and make sure I got to the airport on time. It was a wonderful time to get into the Christmas mood and have a European rendezvous with Anna. Thanks to her friends Nasstassia & Tina for letting us stay at their place, and Merry Christmas everybody!
finally some pictures from Sarah & my Milano trip-- captions below, but no apologies for some of the silliness that you're about to witness.
First, a vespa ride - Chris said, 'You can't be in Italy and not ride a vespa.' so we did. Chris took each of us to the metro individually!
Next, the three ladies - Jelena, Sarah, & me
an artistic moment - Sarah in the Studio. I love this shot.
Day 1, our trip to il Duomo - Sarah & me atop, Sarah pretending to be a toy soldier, and me amazed at the interior intricacy of the floor.
Roasted Chestnuts - I finally understand the hype. A Milano specialty!
another shot of the glorious Maison Sabbatini studio. Sarah & I kept saying to ourselves - we get to sleep here?!?
Sarah & Anna checking out the town. Anna was way cool for meeting us in Milan - just for the weekend!
Jelena prepping us to be italian models
So, so much wonderful food. Sarah & me eating gallons of gelatto, and then the scrumptious meal that Alfredo made - eaten by Chris, Jelena, Seba, Sarah (not pictured) & me
and what documentary wouldn't be complete without a shot of us heading off into the sunset? yes, we are ridiculous - but wouldn't you be too?
it's very important in Africa. In Uganda, there are two types of things to eat: food and meat. I'm not kidding.
tonight I ate a catered Christmas Party dinner for my Uganda office - this was hosted in the capital city, Kampala. There were 5 types of meat served: beef, chicken, pork, beef, & fish. Additionally, the catering company served rice and potatoes. My poor boss is vegetarian... not sure she had a wonderful Christmas dinner, but what else do you expect if you're veg. on this continent?
In the northern part of Uganda, I don't think people have figured out how to chop meat yet - so many times you will get bits of bone in your mouth. My recommendation: chew carefully!
In Zimbabwe, the attitude is very similar. Although you can get salads as entrees, it's unusual to find them without meat on top - and especially red meat. One time I got pizza for lunch (cheese, pizza sauce, crust, basil, something like that), and one of my team told me, "Oh Abigail, it's not real pizza unless it has meat on it." And then showed me her pizza which had not 1 but 2 types of red meat on top.
It's not that the meat is always terrible, but honestly - where are all the fruits & vegetables? Well, fruits are served as breakfast or dessert (ok, cool). Vegetables are definitely a side dish only. Sometimes you might get beans n rice as an entree, but that is considered a poor man's dish.
at least people are getting their daily/weekly iron needs fulfilled.......
This Saturday I leave for Uganda again. It will be 1 year and 4 days since my very first trip to Africa - talk about coming full circle. I'm really excited to go - this will be a short one, just 2 and a half weeks. On the way back, I'm going to visit my dear friend Anna in Vienna!
I've been thinking about the past year, and the many many ways that God has blessed my travels. Here goes:
-will have visited 8 countries, 3 continents, and traveled for 26 weeks -stood mere feet away from both evil dictators and wild animals. -was on Ugandan radio twice and quoted in the local newspaper (yikes) once. -purchased bulls, goats, & sheep, and selected timber, telecom, and security service providers -was the face & voice of an anti-corruption campaign -received a number of marriage proposals (I stopped counting) - even one on a scrap of paper -managed a 'household staff,' adopted a mutt, and am now an honorary auntie -saw all the 'Big Five' (rhino, lion, leopard, elephant, & hippo) -had a child named after me. not my own child, but thanks for asking. -got to be VIP at an italian nightclub. -out of 34 plane rides, only lost bags one time -met up with my way-cool-also-a-traveler Aunt Chris in the Amsterdam airport -learned how to bucket shower -saw 2 World Wonders -jumped off a waterfall into the pool below -had a wild weekend in Milan with Sarah, Chris, & Jelena -bungee'd over Victoria Falls -fed a baby rhino -swam in the Pacific ocean (for me this was a first) -zip lined through the Mexican jungle -got picked up & dropped off at the airport more times than i can remember by my wonderful family (and a couple late nighters by Martha - thank you!)
To wrap up this random post, I want to say - thanks to everybody for praying me through these travels, and always being willing to hang out in between trips. Hope I'll get to see more of you all in 2010!
Anna for a quick visit to Vienna. Anna is living in Bratislava, an hour train ride from Vienna, so we made plans to stay at her friend's apartment and wander around the city on my way back from Uganda. (I know, try to keep up! 
The flight pattern was: Uganda-Amsterdam-Vienna-Amsterdam-DC)
Then we wandered through Karntnerstrasse and Karlsplatz, hit up the Kuntschalle cafe - it was time to re-caffeinate and de-thaw. No, everything in Vienna does not begin with the letter 'K,' but you would be surprised at how fun it is to make up fake German words and pretend like you're a local! We wandered through Naschmarkt - the largest 'Kriskindlemarkt' in the whole world. Vienna is famous for these outdoor markets at Christmastime - many many stalls ('stallen') with lots of trinkets and potential Christmas presents.
Saturday evening, Anna & I attended a concert by the Vienna Residence Orchestra - hosted inside a palace, and complete with dancers, opera singers, and full period costumes. If you ever go to Vienna, this is my highest recommendation. The music by Mozart and Strauss, in the city where they composed and performed these masterpieces - music that kings & queens danced to, it speaks to the soul. After 300 years, the music is still genuine. The first violinist played on an instrument from Mozart's time period - can you imagine a 300 year old violin making such beautiful sounds? For a taste - see here, although filming this was against the rules..... no respect, people. and the dancers were annoying & detracted from the music. just my opinion.
Sunday morning, Anna and I traipsed over to the Hotel Sacher for a taste of brunch and the world-famous Sacher Torte. Needless to say - delicious, and worth every single calorie. Next we visited the Art History Museum - inside yet another palace. We wandered amongst the ancient art from Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Europe, and then sat and talked about life. By dusk we wandered around the beautiful buildings, all lit up for Christmas surrounded in lovely snow... only in Europe. It felt like magic. We walked over to Ratthouse, the new-ish municipal building. The Ratthouse is turned into a giant advent calendar at Christmastime, with one of the windows opened up for each day in advent. Ate some bratwurst, drank punzch, and got ourselves lost in the city.
Anna was sweet to wake up with me at 3 a.m. and make sure I got to the airport on time. It was a wonderful time to get into the Christmas mood and have a European rendezvous with Anna. Thanks to her friends Nasstassia & Tina for letting us stay at their place, and Merry Christmas everybody!
Chris took each of us to the metro individually!
This Saturday I leave for Uganda again. It will be 1 year and 4 days since my very first trip to Africa - talk about coming full circle. I'm really excited to go - this will be a short one, just 2 and a half weeks. On the way back, I'm going to visit my dear friend Anna in Vienna!
To wrap up this random post, I want to say - thanks to everybody for praying me through these travels, and always being willing to hang out in between trips. Hope I'll get to see more of you all in 2010!