Thoughts from my pillow....

I'm lying in bed, reading the first paragraph in a new book.

It just started to rain, for the fourth, maybe fifth time today....I've lost track....

Rain is not a good word for what is happening outside tonight. The sky is savagely dumping obscene amounts of rain down upon the earth with such force it feels as if the whole house will be blown away by its power.

I am listening to the sheets of rain pound against the roof.
The wind is whirling.
The ceiling fan is spinning, creating a slight breeze inside.
The mosquito net I'm laying under is gently shifting against the current.

There is a leak in my bedroom ceiling. It's dripping faster and faster now. I'll have to lay down another towel to soak up the water soon. The paint is peeling. The ceiling is sagging. I wonder if that part of the ceiling will hold much longer?

Isaak is out there somewhere. He left an hour and a half ago to pick up Seth and and Rebecca and their friend from the airport. I hope they have found refuge in their home and are waiting out the storm and not trying to drive through the streets that have turned into rivers.

West Africa welcomes you back.

This is not a place of moderation.
It is a land of extremes....
extreme rain,
extreme heat,
extreme dust,
extreme sun,
extreme smells,
extreme joy,
extreme thankfulness,
extreme suffering.

I leave Burkina in ten months.
Can it be? Have we really been here two years already? That doesn't seem possible, and yet...

I will miss this land deeply....and also, not at all.
Conflicting emotions.
Like and dislike.
Love and loathing.
Side by side. Co-existing together, always.
And I wouldn't have it any other way.
The constant battle, the tug of war, the beauty with the pain....it pushes me, it challenges me, it compels me. Keeps me from becoming complacent.

Builds character.

Today I went to a friend's house with Steven for a final week of summer playdates. While chatting, I paused for a moment and smiled to myself, letting it soak in. I was sitting in the company of friends from Poland, Kenya, Bolivia, and the U.S. It was lovely. I have grown deeply fond of living in an international community. It is one of my favorite things. The medley of cultures. The blend of people.

It is beautiful, diversity. Absolutely beautiful.

The rain is letting up. I hear it trickling off, growing ever quieter. The ceiling will drip all night. But that's okay. It will not impede my ability to sleep. I've grown used to the hard sound of the drops falling onto the soggy towel below it.

Never mind....the rain is whipping up again. I hear more thunder crackling in the distance. It can't seem to make up its mind tonight. Back and forth she goes......

But it is late. I will put down my pen and paper and force my brain to rest. I will get back to my book....
...it holds the promise of Italy, a place I've never been but very much hope to visit someday.....