silver linings
I called home this evening. Couldn't talk for long, as I am not exactly rolling in the dough these days and I am spending too much money on credit for my phone (stupid MTN). My father picked up. "Hi, dad, it's Zoe." Honestly, my father hasn't sounded this happy to talk to me in years. Every time I call, which isn't very often, he says exactly the same things in the same order "how are you?" shortly followed by "when are you coming home?" I told him "maybe January". Not thrilled about returning for Winter, but he tried to encourage me by saying "we can go cross-country skiing and skating!" Oh my ... I shudder at the thought of a Canadian Winter after all this sunshine and heat. Then again, the harmattan has come with its dusty skies, obscuring things that I'd forgotten to take pictures of and now can't and probably won't be able to before I leave. Goddamn! So it goes.
In another silver moment, I got a great email from my best pal. Here's what she had to say about my lovely 2 year old nephew: "Oliver has been telling people that Zoë is in Africa and she is not coming home yet. He told your Mom on Halloween and the lady at the Trillium bakery the other day. Oliver had a good time on Halloween but instead of saying trick or treat he said 'I want chocolate'". Yep, definitely my nephew :) I laughed out loud, full and strong. I felt great.
Lastly, two people called me to say hello today. Ebere called to see how I was doing and a woman I met at Sutton's goobye party called to say hi. Tomorrow I am going to the "Best Fish Bar in the World" with two of my British pals and Friday I am going on a retreat until Sunday with a few friends. I know what you are thinking, fish bar? It's a difficult concept to grasp if you haven't been to one, but it's big here. You go, pick your fish (I can't do it if I see them flopping around though), they slap it on a grill, cook it up, and serve it to you with peppe (spicy peppers). We usually order it with chips and eat it with our hands. Also really looking forward to getting out of this f'n city for a few days. It's wearing me down.
In closing, thanks to misszulu for the great conversation online the other night. You make me laugh, girl. I love you! And also thank you to laughing_tree for Free Hugs in NYC". It made my spirit smile. Last, but not least, to sir_sky for writing things that helped me to chase away my boogiemen. I'm sending you some sunshine from the arms of Mother Africa. And thank you to all my little pretties, far and wide. You are the silver lining in my dark days.
In another silver moment, I got a great email from my best pal. Here's what she had to say about my lovely 2 year old nephew: "Oliver has been telling people that Zoë is in Africa and she is not coming home yet. He told your Mom on Halloween and the lady at the Trillium bakery the other day. Oliver had a good time on Halloween but instead of saying trick or treat he said 'I want chocolate'". Yep, definitely my nephew :) I laughed out loud, full and strong. I felt great.
Lastly, two people called me to say hello today. Ebere called to see how I was doing and a woman I met at Sutton's goobye party called to say hi. Tomorrow I am going to the "Best Fish Bar in the World" with two of my British pals and Friday I am going on a retreat until Sunday with a few friends. I know what you are thinking, fish bar? It's a difficult concept to grasp if you haven't been to one, but it's big here. You go, pick your fish (I can't do it if I see them flopping around though), they slap it on a grill, cook it up, and serve it to you with peppe (spicy peppers). We usually order it with chips and eat it with our hands. Also really looking forward to getting out of this f'n city for a few days. It's wearing me down.
In closing, thanks to misszulu for the great conversation online the other night. You make me laugh, girl. I love you! And also thank you to laughing_tree for Free Hugs in NYC". It made my spirit smile. Last, but not least, to sir_sky for writing things that helped me to chase away my boogiemen. I'm sending you some sunshine from the arms of Mother Africa. And thank you to all my little pretties, far and wide. You are the silver lining in my dark days.