So, Los Angeles, We Meet Again (My Stream of Consciousness Response to Arriving in L.A.)

I love getting to Mom and Dad's house. It feels good, it smells good, it IS good.

It's SO COLD! My folks crank the heat for us but, with our thin African blood, Heather and I are shaking the whole time. A friend of Mom's stops by with slippers she's knit and we grab them like the life-savers they are! Our feet are happy at last. Thank you, knitting friend of Grandma! Thank you Grandma for teaching her to knit.

People say that women love to shop. I'm not so sure about that. I need clothes but I only narrowly survived my first foray into the stores. I don't know what happened but this one very well meaning saleslady got it into her mind that it was her personal job to dress me. She was bringing all these ridiculous choices and burying me in things I would never wear. And I'm just so compliant! I tried on outfits I had not the slightest attraction to just because I didn't want her to feel bad! I think I disappointed her greatly when I left with my modest selection. And to tell you the truth, I really want to return one of the items but I'm literally scared to death to go back in there!

I love walking in this town! Old Pasadena homes are SO lovely and so entertaining to walk by. Heather and I get to stretch our legs while enjoying each house and garden we pass. We do feel lonely for our dogs when we go for a stroll but we feel so blessed to have pleasant places to wander around. This easy access to exercise causes my heart to feel a little envy. I don't like walking where we live in Arusha.

Tea is good and is the answer to most things no matter where I am on the planet.

I need some alone time. I waked through the grocery store for a few minutes all by myself this afternoon and it felt amazing.

Baby Girl and I slipped into the States under the radar. Byron and Colin arrive tomorrow evening and we have a one weekend family time with The Repko clan immediately after they get in. After that, THE SCHEDULE takes over.

I'm looking to sneak in as much true connection with people I love as possible.

I can culture shock pretty good when I get here, but I love L.A.

Hug

I had a dream the other night in which I was hugging a friend. That was all there was in the dream--one very nice hug. In real life, this friend is not much able to hug because of not being comfortable hugging.

Some people aren't comfortable hugging for cultural reasons. It's just not the way it was done where they were raised. Fair enough. I can adapt. I kiss people a lot because that's what we did in Portugal and most of Europe. Hugging wasn't really the thing, but we kissed. And that's nice because I like kissing. Many of my African friends just shake hands. I can do that too :-)

Other people aren't comfortable hugging for unspoken reasons that have to do with painful things. I understand that. And I'm sad about it.

Dreaming of a really nice healthy hug made me wake up hopeful. And it made me think of happy huggings, like the way one of my guy friends in Europe would sometimes lift me off the ground when he hugged me. Or the way two of my married friends will completely enfold me in a double hug. Perfect.

So while we're on the topic, let me give a shout out to Carla Trundle Harding for being the world's best hugger. Byron says if you measure a person's health based on their ability to hug, it stands to reason that Carla is the healthiest person on the planet.

I'm thinkin' he's right :-)

Post #419 (in which Lisa has a curious meltdown)

So today started out smoothly, above average, lovely. It was a spectacular morning in the NW and the green trees and blue skies of the greater Seattle area were very pleasant to wake up to. It was a holiday morning and we rolled out of bed closer to 8am, made our tea and resisted the urge to do the work waiting on our computers.

Going to thrift stores (aka charity shops) is one of our favorite pastimes anywhere but especially in this town. We've made some famously great clothing purchases in this place in the last 20 years of visits.

Pulling into the parking lot, we didn't notice any clear indication of which way traffic would flow and we very innocently pulled into a spot. And that's when the yelling began. A driver in another aisle of traffic was apparently intending to take that spot from another direction and she yelled at Byron that it was her spot. And that's when the security guard came over with his very serious "YOU ARE IN TROUBLE" face and waved his big arms and told Byron in the sternest tones, "BACK OUT!"

So we did.

Honestly, we were not trying to snake a spot. We were just unaware of how the system worked.

And that's when I started to cry.

May I preface this by saying I'm very tired and there's quite a lot going on in my heart these days?

Still, it sounds very silly but I just cried and cried. In fact, I needed to stay in the car while Byron and Heather perused the shop so that I could let my tears out and get a grip.

Here's the thing: being yelled at by a perfect stranger triggered all these feelings in me of so often being foreign to a place. It triggered in me the layers and layers of memories (going back to 4 yrs of age) of times that I have been confused in a new country, language, city, school, or social setting. As I've mentioned before, I've lived in 6 different countries and I've moved many times within cultures and communities in those countries.

I guess I was just too tired today to be reminded that I don't even know how to follow the normal traffic clues in a parking lot at a thrift store in Seattle. The funny thing is that I wasn't even driving. But it still smacked me upside the head in the most surprising way.

Later, home at my sister Tanya's house, I told her all about it and cried again. She hugged me and sent me for a nap with her favorite blanket.

I think that was a very nice sisterly thing to do.

Welcoming the Rain (and hello travels)

It's warm and humid this afternoon in Arusha. This morning we had a nice rain. Byron and I were still in bed with our morning tea when that wonderful, unbelievable smell announced the big event. It wasn't a huge rain but it was much welcomed and I blessed it as I enjoyed my tea. Now I sit here on our front porch, watching the clouds build, and hope that tonight will bring a heavy downpour.

Jesse was 22 on Friday. Twenty-two? I have a 22 year-old? Indeed, I do. One that I am ridiculously proud of, actually. And the days are quickly approaching his college graduation. He will soon complete his bachelor's degree in Environmental Science and we'll be there, smiling and clapping and snapping photos.

But in order to get there, I'm going to have to leave here.

On the way to California, we will travel through Portugal for 10 days. It's 2 years and 8 months since we left and it's the right time to go back. We really, really look forward to being with the folks we love there.

All this coming and going stirs stuff in me.

A wise friend of mine once said that we weren't made for the jet-age. We aren't actually well-suited to pop between cultures so quickly. It can be jarring. For me, it usually quiets and, to be honest, kind of confuses me. I need time to observe, absorb and figure it out.

So I feel this little tremble of temptation to have a mini-freak-out about leaving Africa and landing in LA. You know, there is often more money on a finger in LA than friends here might make in 10 years of full-time work. It's too bizarre to think about.

But this time around, I think I feel a little more settled about my unsettledness. I am more at peace with my particular peculiarities. So I'm not typical in my experiences... Is anyone, really? So I have some significantly different perspectives on a few things... Whatever.

I am me.

I love my friends and family in many locations far from the one that I call home. I begin the journey on Wednesday, fully expecting to be better for time with them.

And I expect that they will, once again, embrace this family that blows in every once in a while, bringing tales from far and away beyond their horizons.

Post #323 (In Which I Rush Outside to See the Sun)

It's weird that I've rushed out of doors to greet the sun (since I live in Africa and all) but we've not had much of the beloved presence in the last couple of months.

(My apologies to those who live in places like Seattle and the UK where this run of clouds and rain would not warrant whining.)

The sun is here today and I hope it will last or at least make frequent appearances between showers. The rainy season usually sprinkles out by the end of May and I'm just politely encouraging it to move along now. "Get along, little dawgie."

Trevor has jumped on a shuttle for Nairobi so that he can meet Darrelle's plane at 6:30am tomorrow and escort her over the bumpy roads and through the (some times bewildering) border crossing.

Jesse should be on a shuttle from Nairobi this very minute. Their shuttles will pass on the way somewhere. I wish they would both be at the same rest stop at the same time. Wouldn't that be crazy? Hugging brothers at a tourist stop, destined to be pulled apart again quickly as they continue their journeys in opposite directions. It would be tragic except that will meet up at our place by Thursday afternoon.

Byron and Tammy are doing a day seminar with the Artisan ladies. They have some issues to work out with the new line of products our fair trade project is working on. There were some funny boo boos in the first batch of the new designs. Last year we introduced angels with cone shaped dresses. This year, we're using a similar cone shape but making Christmas trees. We had some trees come in, topped with stars as they should be, but with angel arms attached. Ha! I guess it's hard to imagine an angel or a Christmas tree if you have not grown up with many, many images of these things firmly planted in your mind.

Colin is trying his best to understand how to diagram sentences and I've just spent 20 minutes watching the lesson with him. I don't understand it ONE bit. I think diagraming sentences is a foolish waste of time. (Dana, I hope you can tell me I'm right about this.)

Heather is laid up on the sofa with a fever and sore throat. The Russell twins are doing home school with Val the Valiant Visitor at our dining room table.

And me? I am avoiding the grocery shopping and the general clean up, the emails I haven't answered and the deadlines I have for a couple of little writing things as I linger in the warmth of this good sunshine.

Enough pleasuring. Back to work now...

(PS I posted today on my Conversant Life blog about my response to the news from China.)

A Tale of 2 Parties

A sunny afternoon in a green garden. We had tables set for tea and ladies in smiles and pretty clothes. It was a bridal shower for a fellow international and everything was perfect.

So many treats! Imported chocolate chips in the cookies, amazing samosas, gorgeous cakes and little cupcakes with cute bridal decorations. There was lots of "Oohing" and "Aaahing" and plenty of laughter. No nice touches were left out. The tea sets all matched just beautifully.

I drove back across town afterwards and through the gate to our garden.

In one corner of the lawn, a group of Tanzanian guys and one white husband of mine hunched over the goat they were slaughtering. Colin and Heather were playing soccer on the grass with a couple other young men and another collage of guys were getting the grill ready.

There was meat, meat, meat and more meat by the time the roasting was done. We had bits of it between our teeth and plenty of grease on our fingers. There was a dart board and a lot of joking around. There was a vat of hot chai to follow the crate of sodas and Heather taught willing participants how to play Tick Tack Toe. The dogs munched happily on tasty bones.

It was one incredibly full afternoon, evening and night. I enjoyed it all.

But secretly, I liked the second party, (the one on my lawn with the guys from the local welding shop) the best :-)