No winter, summer, etc, just Rainy and Dry Seasons

When writing the date on something yesterday, I wrote “October” off the top of my head. Because we don’t have seasons here and because I have moved around so much in the past 10 years, I have no biological sense of that time of year it is based on the weather outside.  Four years ago about this time, we were arriving in South Africa, which was much colder than I was expecting and we both lived in our fleece pants for most of July and August.

In our current location, sure, one could say it feels like summer. Days are sunny and warm; nights are clear and cool. It’s dry season, so there’s not the chance for a rainstorm to come cool the afternoon off.  A lot of people are already rationing the water in their tanks. Thankfully, we still have water (and good pressure most of the time!) coming out of our taps. (Thank you, God! And after living here for a year and a half, we are convinced God is the only one who knows when and why water comes or doesn’t…)

This is our last week playing Frisbee on our normal field, a five-minute walk from our house. During dry season, they close the field so that the fragile, dry grass doesn’t get completely decimated. So we’ll have about three months of playing on a small “field” that’s a 15-minute drive from our house instead. But we’re glad we’ll still be playing.

We continue to be really content and in a good place emotionally since our return from visiting family. In fact, our boss complimented us, saying “I don’t know, it’s like you did drugs or something!” We did not, but we’re equally grateful for our positive outlook.

I, Karen, am a third of the way through my practicum for my MA in Conflict Transformation. I’ve really enjoyed thinking strategically about the goals and learning objectives of the Seed program and how they can inform other important decisions and guide the creation of curriculum for the program. This practicum has given me a reason to reach out to a number of people who have thoughts to contribute but we’ve just never made the effort to connect with them before. I’ll be really happy to have my degree in September and cross that off my list!