my sentiments today

"A heart torn between two pieces of earth. Between two different and unique people. This heart feels like it may break. With one, yearning for the other. And then a breath... Peace...Be with the one and keep the other close. So close you can almost taste, touch, and hear it. Red, the dirt. Beautiful, the faces. So distant yet so near. Always in my heart."

Oh Africa, I miss Thee!

the dirt. the smell. the heat. the smiles. the kids. the songs. the noises. the drums. the animals. the w.c. the bucket baths. the bugs. the skirts. the flip flops. the truck rides. the roads. the rice. the peanut sauce. the beggars. the widows. the cokes. the market. the moto. the tanties. the pace. the friendships. the language. the mornings. the evenings. the soccer matches. the harvest. the millet. the rain.

Far off places

I am just an ordinary girl that seems to end up in the strangest places.
I lived in Burkina Fasa, Africa for 2 years, which was the best time of my life. I lived among some of the most poor and needy people of the world. I played with children all day long, and somehow got to call it "work." I made so many friendships and memories there with the local people. I became fluent in 2 new languages.

And now I find myself in Okinawa, Japan with my lovely husband, where most days I hang out with other women and "go shopping." The best days are the ones when my husband and I go exploring.

Life seems to take the funniest of turns. From living in the dust to living on the sand. From living with nothing to living with more than I could ever have asked for...Who would have known that a plain ordinary girl, like myself, would have so many adventures? Don't get me wrong, I love that, somehow, I am the one traipsing off doing "things of grandeur." I just never though that I would end up here, ever really. The two places are so very different. Its hard not to compare them. My hope is that this place and these people help to mold me into someone who I never thought I would be.