What ships are built for

Think about the last time you moved to a new place. How did you figure out where everything was? Where to buy food and household sundries, where to find public transportation? You probably looked it up online, or in the phone book, and you plotted your way on a map. Maybe you asked a friendly neighbor for help. But what if there ARE no phones, no internet, no maps (no roads in the first place, anyway) -- and oh yeah, you only kindasorta speak your neighbor's language?

Well, sir, then life is an adventure! ;)

Example: say you feel like a burger today. What do you do? Go to McDonald's. Or, if you're more industrious, go to the grocery store and pick up some ground beef. But what if you had to buy the whole live cow? This is my life. I have the choice of buying an unhappy braying goat, a chicken with its feet tied together, or a still-flopping fish. I just laugh -- I wouldn't even know where to begin! So when I cook for myself, I stick to veggies, beans, macaroni. And fortunately, when I eat with the locals, the women know how to prepare the fresh river fish excellently.

My hair is growing. Compare two weeks to four:



There is no such thing as "Africa." There really isn't. When people here ask me about how certain things are in Amérique, I find it funny, because of course America is so big and diverse. Kennett Square is not Compton is not the Great Lakes is not Vegas is not Hawaii. BUT how much bigger is Africa? In our Western minds, it's all elephants and lions and bright fabrics and oversized jewelry. But, like anywhere, there are rich and there are poor and everything in between. I guess the difference is whether poverty is the exception or the rule.


It has struck me that many of my friends are in positions surprisingly similar to mine right now. No matter where in particular you are or what you're doing, if you're brave and determined (which the people I love unquestionably are), then you are always facing the unknown. You are constantly putting yourself in a position of temporary discomfort, in aim of a grander goal. It would always be easier to just stay, just settle, but if you're really alive then you can't.

"A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for." - William Shedd

(Maybe this is not all so deep. But it spoke to me, and it made me fiercely proud of all of you for braving your own uncharted waters.)