It’s a full moon and so we walk after dusk dark as our fatigued minds are insisting on a change of scenery. I’ve come to have a greater appreciation for what Kara has experienced in the past four months – not only in terms of her work, but her lifestyle. Our lives are spent inside the compound with the same people doing the same things and eating the same foods. There is no social life. There are no restaurants or bars. After walking up and down the wide, red, dirt airstrip that doubles as a pedestrian “highway,” we settle on the steps of a building near the compound and take in the glorious golden moon. I can’t help but remember that three months ago at this time I was with my sisters in a hot tub in Phoenix, witnessing a most spectacular sight: a moon adorned with a rainbow halo. Being as it was my 40th birthday, I took it as a good omen that my life would begin moving in the right direction; it had been a long, tumultuous time since the hurricane. Who knew that three months later I’d be watching the full moon from a dusty, charming village in South Sudan – and with a dear friend from home?
Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2007
It’s a full moon and so we walk after dusk dark as our fatigued minds are insisting on a change of scenery. I’ve come to have a greater appreciation for what Kara has experienced in the past four months – not only in terms of her work, but her lifestyle. Our lives are spent inside the compound with the same people doing the same things and eating the same foods. There is no social life. There are no restaurants or bars. After walking up and down the wide, red, dirt airstrip that doubles as a pedestrian “highway,” we settle on the steps of a building near the compound and take in the glorious golden moon. I can’t help but remember that three months ago at this time I was with my sisters in a hot tub in Phoenix, witnessing a most spectacular sight: a moon adorned with a rainbow halo. Being as it was my 40th birthday, I took it as a good omen that my life would begin moving in the right direction; it had been a long, tumultuous time since the hurricane. Who knew that three months later I’d be watching the full moon from a dusty, charming village in South Sudan – and with a dear friend from home?
