I'm still an introvert, but when I arrived in Sudan, I decided that if there was ever a time for me to come out of my shell, this would be it. Plus, it doesn't hurt that there's an unofficial rule I've heard that you say "yes" for your first month at any new post. So that's what I did. I said "yes" to every party, "yes" to every dinner, and "yes" to every casual get-together. And that made me meet people, find my group, and quickly feel a part of the community here, both Americans and non-Americans. I think I really noticed it during my R&R in October. By the end of my three weeks away I was starting to miss Khartoum. Maybe not Khartoum itself, but the people in Khartoum. Spending time with my friends in Khartoum. And the rhythm of life in Khartoum. Khartoum is home, and that realization has made my time here all that much better.
In addition to all the events I go to now, I've obviously also adopted a street puppy who has way more energy than me. For instance, while I was writing this post, he ran around and around and around my couch and tables. Endlessly. It tires me to watch him do that. But the best part about having a puppy is that he gives me something to come home to after work every day. Obviously he's a lot of work, but it's work I'm willing to put in, as long as he will eventually get to a point where he won't need me to wake up at 3am every morning to take him out to pee. I've had him for just about a month now--and he's about 3 months old--and I'm really enjoying that he's starting to be trained, as in he now listens when I tell him to go into his crate at night. Now I just need to work on all the other parts of training a dog!
One of the negative parts of living overseas is missing things. For instance, I've missed two weddings I really wanted to go to. I don't get to see my family as often, although Skype, FaceTime, and other forms of technology really help here. But I can't pick up my nephew or try to feed him an Oreo. Instead, I can show him the clocks in my house to hear him go "tick tock" or show him my puppy and hear him call out to "Rggy's Doggy."
I knew there would be these tradeoffs, but I still think the positives outweigh the negatives, so back to the positives, because I'm a positive person now (ha!!!). In addition to just being a happy, relatively social person out here (wasn't sure I was capable of being a social butterfly, to be honest), here's a quick rundown of a few other (not-so-important) things I've noticed in the past six months:
1. I'm not that bad at Candy Crush Soda Saga. I started playing it three days before I left for Sudan. I'm now on Level 577.
2. Amazon is absolutely amazing. And Amazon Pantry is the best part of Amazon. Yes, mail is slow, but I'm willing to wait the 3ish weeks for things because whenever I need something, I know I can "find it on Amazon."
3. Speaking of mail...mail day at the Embassy is always the best day of the week. And I do enjoy sending mail out too--up to 32 letters out over the last 6 months, with a few more I plan on writing this long weekend.
4. You can take the boy out of Jersey, but you can't take the Jersey out of the boy. Even though I've been out of New Jersey for 10 years. put a good dance song on and the fist pump comes out. It's a legitimate dance move.
5. Journey's Don't Stop Believing is really an American thing. Many American parties end with it, and the non-Americans don't seem to get as excited for it as the Americans do.
So 6 months down, at least 18 months to go. I'm excited to see what the coming weeks and months bring. Hopefully more trips to other parts of Sudan (I've only made it up to Meroe, site of Sudan's pyramids, so far), more trips outside of Sudan, and more fun times with the group of friends and family I've made in Khartoum!
This post's happy video is a song I've been hearing a lot on the radio recently, and it just seems to fit. It's about living in the moment, making the most of where you're at. Plus, it's John Legend. So enjoy!
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