winter

I have recently returned from two weeks visiting family in Israel. When I left Dar, it was around 40 degrees and when I arrived in Israel it was zero. So, I finally got a little winter in my winter. Definitely did not have enough warm clothing and had a constant supply of tea entering my system to keep from freezing to death (okay, obviously a *slight* exaggeration). Despite the freezing temperatures, it was nice to see everybody. I hadn't been to Israel in almost three years. I also had the chance to meet some new people... my dad's cousin's daughters, a friend's five week old baby and a slight introduction to my soon-to-be new baby cousin who should be joining us in around a month but looks very cute in the ultrasound photos. Though I'm now living geographically a lot closer to Israel, the trip takes forever. The 5-6 hours at the over-airconditioned Addis Ababa airport plus an hour delay in both directions meant I spent a total of around 15 hours on planes and in airports each way.

Back in Dar, it seems that winter has arrived as well. Though it was insanely muggy when I first arrived, the weather since has cooled considerably and it's been cloudy for the last several days. Everyone keeps telling me "the rains are coming" in a slightly disconcerting way that makes me think I need to build an arc. I am finally starting to settle back in to life in Dar. After arriving on Friday, I was whisked directly off to the beach for the weekend. It was a really nice place and a very relaxing weekend. There's something about a hammock that defines vacation for me.

Then it was back to Dar where my room was being used by someone else so I had to move all my stuff down the hall until yesterday when my room opened up again and I had to move everything back up the hall and finally got to unpack and start to settle in.

That's all for the update... will try to post photos soon.

Happy New Year

I think this is the first time since moving to Vancouver that I was away for New Year's Eve. I marked it here in Dar spending the night on the beach with friends. Also spent Christmas Day on the beach. I really like celebrating winter holidays on the beach. Though I would really enjoy a day of snow out here once in a while. The holidays have come and gone but we've certainly had some fun. Chelsea has been here visiting for the last two weeks and we wandered the city a little but mostly just chatted and giggled and played cards and caught up on life. We infused some christmas spirit into the holiday by making home made decorations for the tree. We also got out to Zanzibar for a few days. The highlight of zanzibar was just meeting up with Natasha and Jen and having a mini-IPMP reunion. We also got out to a water park last Sunday which was so much fun. We got there early in the morning and had the place to ourselves for the first couple of hours. We rented these mats that make it so much more pleasant to slide down and I actually slide head first down a steep slide 6 stories high!!! So proud of myself. Anyway, have had a great vacation and don't mind going back to work knowing that in just over a week I'm heading to Israel for two weeks off. yay! holiday photos to come...