Happy Birthday BLOG!

So its almost one year to date since I started this blog. This time of year stirs the need for reflection and perhaps determining new goals, aspirations and desires for the year to come. I, thus, feel it appropriate to take a moment to do just that.

What actually stimulated this desire for reflection and projection was when I checked my bank account. I first realized that this time last year I was still working…I don’t wish to qualify if it’s a good thing or not, but it seems much longer ago that I was in such a stable and comfortable life. At the same time I feel incredibly blessed at the opportunity to NOT work for an entire year and still be abroad.

2009 was a full year: full of growth, of travel, of new friends, new languages, new experiences…

I started the year by wrapping up lose ends in freezing Chicago with a bundle of excitement with the idea that I had Absolutely NO idea what was in store for my life! I “moved” to Dakar, Senegal: my first time (more than 24 hours) in Africa and in a Muslim country. I re-acquainted myself with the initial frustrations of learning a new language and the process to the joy of being able to fully express myself in that language. I became close to yet more Rotary host brothers. I traveled to remote villages to experience an anthropologists dream. I ate new foods. I danced. I played the djembe. I ran by the ocean. I created pottery in silent laughter.

I returned “home” to Chicago for a fast five weeks. I re-adjusted to life and realized blessings of both cultures. I visited Rotary clubs. I played with my niece and nephews! I saw my little brother graduate. I did my first detox diet. I went to a wedding every weekend. I danced. I hugged my dad and chatted with my mom.

At the end of August, now an even better packer, I moved to Cairo, Egypt: my first time in the Middle East and NE Africa and my first time in grad school! I found an apartment. I met new friends. I found an internship. I learned to ignore the most annoying men I could ever imagine even more. I ate new food. I had my first stress related panic attack—or 4. For the first time I realized that I cannot always give 100% in everything I do and said, “that is sufficient.” I’m starting to learn Arabic.

I still do not really know where my life is going but I am content with that and content with the direction it seems to be taking. It’s fun to think that I’ve acquired vocabulary of three different languages in one year. I’m still very excited to be in Africa. I love my graduate program and the people that I’ve met through it. With all the “I”s in this entry, I feel that my year is a bit selfish and egotistical. Perhaps it is… At the same time my current quote for 2010 is: "The life of an individual has meaning insofar as it aids in making the life of every living thing nobler and more beautiful" Dr. A.Einstein…woooohoooo, here we go 2010!