August in a Nutshell

"A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.
-Lao Tzu"

Ahhh. I can breathe again. Combined with the emotional strain of the “Ryder Lake Hotel” affair, I was stressed to the eye-balls about the hotel situation here. We’re staying at a residential hotel, and had to switch rooms for this last month. Picture me at 10pm last night alone in the apartment in tears running around trying to pack up a house that four packrats have lived in for two months. Horrendous. Luckily, Graham arrived home at the height of my stress, and the two us packed up pretty efficiently. This morning we got up and headed downtown to the Yaya Center, where I was able to print my e-tickets for Rwanda, then came home to to the actual move. Luckily, we only had to move one floor down, and the new apartment is directly below our old one, so the move was about as pain-free as a move could be, I suppose.

So now I’m here pool-side, enjoying a few hours of sun in my bikini, which has happened all to few times this summer. I’ve had so little sun this summer, I feel like I’ve spent three months being the whitest person in Africa, only to return back home to be the whitest person in Canada!

But oh, is it ever great to just relax for a few hours. While I love everything I’ve been doing here, it’s been go-go-go nonstop for 2 months. Monday-Thursday at the office, Fridays and some Saturdays at the orphanage, Sundays with church or shopping, we’ve barely had a moment to breathe! Even little trips away (re: My weekend in Hell), while great times, do not involved any relaxing.
And tomorrow, off to Rwanda! This is another experience that will no doubt leave no time for relaxing, but I am so excited for it, I can hardly stand it. The tickets are booked, passports packed, cameras charged! In less than 24 hours, I’ll be in Kigali in the “Pay de Milles Collines” or “Country of 1000 Hills.” Seeing as how French is the first language in Rwanda, it’ll be interesting to see how much of my French Immersion skills come flooding back. I can remember next to nothing, but maybe it’ll be like bike riding? (Shudder!!) Hopefully it’s something you don’t really forget?! Fingers are crossed!

It feels so funny to be going on a vacation from my vacation. At least for the time being, Nairobi is starting to feel like home! We don’t have too many concrete plans. Meeting a few friends of friends and fellow interns are on the agenda, but other than that, we’ll just head where the wind takes us. It’ll be cool to recapture that tourist feeling and spend a few days exploring yet another corner of the earth. If I don’t get a chance to give a little update in Rwanda, I’ll be back in 6 days time, full of stories!

After that, it’ll be back to Nairobi, where only 18 days will remain, before we head on to Mombasa, which is on the coast, right on the Indian Ocean. A few days of fun in the sun with our friend Roxanna from UFV, and then it’ll be back to Nairobi for two nights, then one day in Amsterdam, then Chilliwack, here I come!!! When I break down my time like that, a week here, a few days there, it makes it seem almost like the summer is already over. I only have 11 days left in the Scout office, which just devastates me. Truthfully, I kind of though the actual work part of the internship would probably be the part of the summer I would enjoy the least, but it’s without a doubt been the best part of the summer. The things I’ve learned and the friends I’ve made just blow my mind.

That’s the rest of the summer, in a nutshell! Time is flying so fast, I’m just trying to take in every moment, knowing I’ll be back home in the blink of an eye.

-Delaney xo