#YesMyPresident

I may not have voted for him and I may believe that there was some foreign influence in the election, but #YesMyPresident.

I may oppose many of his policies and I may think the administration's priorities are wrong, but #YesMyPresident.

I may dislike the hateful rhetoric and I may wish there was more compassion for underprivileged Americans, but #YesMyPresident.

I am tired of opening Facebook (or Twitter, or CNN) and seeing endless, many petty, complaints about the current administration. While some of the complaints are valid, the tendency to throw the kitchen sink and say that everything is a problem and everything is a scandal that proves Donald Trump is unworthy to be President is getting ridiculous. Fake news and overhyping small events are no longer a thing that only the far right does; now liberal news outlets are blatantly misinterpreting facts to continue to denigrate Trump, making it sound like these news outlets want him to fail. I want him to succeed because his success is America's success. I didn't necessarily like President Obama, but I never wished him to fail.

While I can respect people who articulately say why they oppose a policy, I instantly lose respect for the people who, a week after his inauguration, still end their posts with #NotMyPresident. Whether you like it or not, Trump is your President. He is not illegitimate just because you disagree with his vision for the country and how to achieve it. Yes, Hillary Clinton won more votes, but that doesn't make Trump illegitimate. He won the election based on the rules of the election. Had the rules been different, say by making the winner of the popular vote the winner of the election, both he and Clinton would have run their campaigns differently because that would have been what they were aiming for. Flawed as it may be, the US presidential election is based on who wins the Electoral College, not the popular vote, and Trump won the Electoral College.

I hope that as we move forward in the Trump era people will stop spinning each and every action taken by the Trump administration as the end of the world. And I hope that people can accept that despite differences of opinion and vision, Trump is the President. I have many reservations about his policy proposals and his unique approach to politics, but at the end of the day, Trump is #YesMyPresident.

Back to the Suburbs

I made my first journey to the African continent in 2008. I distinctly remember on my flight from Zurich to Dar es Salaam looking down at the great expanse of desert in Libya and Sudan and thinking, "It's a shame I'm never going to be able to go to these places." Eight years later, I got the opportunity of a lifetime, and as I stood in Addis Ababa waiting to board my flight to Khartoum, I knew I was going to a place I never thought I would go. After traversing southern and eastern Africa, I made it to Sudan, and things that once seemed impossible became possible. I remember being overwhelmed by Tanzania in 2008, but now, after six different trips to the continent (of varying lengths) and experiences in 14 of the 49 sub-Saharan African countries, traveling to the continent feels like coming home and I constantly look for ways to get back. That's probably one of the reasons I was so excited to move to Khartoum.

Sudan wasn't the first place I've ridden a camel, but
riding a camel by a bunch of pyramids is surreal.

Then, once I got to Khartoum, I felt like I became a better version of myself. Everything I wrote about in my six-month reflection still holds. I am more social. I am more assertive when necessary. I practice yoga. And I feel like a better person. What more could I ask for? When I came ot that realization, I knew that I had found the right tour for me. And as much as my colleagues thought I was weird for how much I truly began to LOVE Khartoum, it was the reasons--and the great community--that drew me in.

Sadly, however, life takes unexpected turns and the best-made plans get shattered. Life sees comfort and it jolts you out. As you can probably surmise based on this blog post's title, I have returned to the suburbs of Virginia. It wasn't what I planned, and I would have loved to finish my tour in Khartoum, but it just wasn't in the cards. I don't yet know what's next for me, but I look forward to finding out and seeing how whatever it is helps me continue to grow as a person and as a friend.

My 7.5-months in Khartoum were better than I could have ever imagined. I believe in fate and that everything happens for a reason, so for me to leave early, I need to believe that something good is just around the corner. And I had to be back in the US to see it. With that in mind, I plan on being ready to take advantage of whatever next comes my way!

I have sunset on Sudan....

While not the happiest post, here's a video that cheers me up. Multilanguage videos of Disney songs are awesome, and this is such a great and inspirational song.