LoveHate2

I will continue with the November list of some of my favorite and least favorite things...

LOVE: Eating Outside
Maybe it's your back deck, or an African chikuta, perhaps the patio at a great restaurant, wherever it is, eating outdoors makes the meal better. You get to have fresh air, it's usually not so noisy, you can people watch or animal watch, and if you drop something on the floor you don't have to clean it up later. What is there not to love?

HATE: Obnoxious Drunks

Somehow alcohol makes even a wallflower feel the need to sing to, heckle at, or just annoy anyone in the vicinity. Now I have no problem with people drinking a glass of wine. Or sipping a margarita. Or gulping down a cold ale. But please, don't mix all of these and find your way to a place near me. You are not welcome.

LOVE: Rainstorms When I am Inside Wrapped in a Blanket

Something about the sound of rain on a windowpane or rooftop brings me peace. I think it goes back to my deep love for all things water. I love being snuggled inside and feeling safe and warm. In college, K and I would find our way to Mimi's cafe and I loved getting corn chowder and warm muffins. That is the best rainy day food.

HATE: Being in Rainstorms While Wet and Cold and Miserable

Yeah, that really needs no explanation. I hate that.

LOVE: When People Comment Back on Their LoveHate Ideas
Go now. Do it. You can even be anonymous. It is therapeutic.

LoveHate

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking lately of all the things that I hate about Zambia and have been pretty down lately. You know, like ‘I can’t get off the phone with my mom without crying’ down. It’s just that I know when I hang up I won’t get to hear her voice or hear about all of you for awhile. It actually gets me choked up right now…which leads me into this latest blog. The other night my friend Heidi and I were eating spinach ravioli (love) we had just made from scratch (hate) and we got to talking about things we loved about being here in Zambia. So I’ve decided I am going to start a regular love/hate segment to this blog and document my bi-polarness in regards to this chapter of my life! Hope it makes you laugh or think or smile or whatever. And then write me about some of your loves and hates.

Love: The tropical fruit here. Having been glutinous as a child at the Sizzler salad bar, going back multiple times for piles of fruit, its like I’ve returned to that blissful salad bar of 1988, except that now I have little African children climb trees to get it. As we go into rainy season soon I cannot wait for the mangos, guavas, and bananas that grow like…fruit at the Sizzler circa 1988.

Hate: The line, “I want to marry a white woman.” Thanks, that is really special; I think you probably love me. How many cows am I worth to you? Will I be wife #4? Or #8? Being noticed strictly because of the color of my skin is something that I had never experienced living in predominantly Caucasian areas in the US. It gives me a totally different perspective for how minorities feel. I hate it. And marriage proposals from strangers are ridiculous. Patrick Dempsey if you are reading this, I do not consider you a stranger, Dr McDreamy.

Love: My freedom here. I can make my own schedule, which always includes an hour in the morning of sipping coffee and journaling, and an hour at night of running while the sun goes down. Most likely I will never again have so much time on my hands or freedom to do as I please. The work I am doing here I love-teaching, being an advocate for people, investing into lives. It is slightly different then working for a Fortune 100 company and being on the phone with clients all day.

Hate: Being away from people I love. I want to wrap my arms around you, laugh with you, hold your hand when you are sad, leave you a dorky voicemail, tell you a story. I hate that we are separated by an ocean…you seem a world away and then some.

Now it's your turn...tell me your loves/hates....