Lazy Days

December is here, and it is the first Sunday of Advent. I had a surprise this week and it looks like I will spend Christmas with my niece, Andrea. This is my sister Vickie’s daughter. Vickie was 10 years old when I was born, and I was 10 years old when Andrea was born. The 3 of us have always has a special relationship. Andrea told me she had to do something totally different and get away for this first Christmas without her mom and she wanted to be with me. We are working it out. I am so excited to share this happy and sad holiday with her. More about that later…

I was lazy these first few days of no school. I made a list of school stuff to prepare for next year, a list of gardening projects, and a list of general household stuff to do over the break. The only thing I completed from my lists was cleaning and polishing my shoes. The Namibia dust, sand, and thorns are very harsh on shoes and they needed some love and care desperately.

Other than that, I finished reading The Storyteller, then I read “Foundation”, the first in a fantasy series by Mercedes Lacky, and now I just started “In Movement There is Peace”, about a couple’s trek on the El Camino. I spent a lot of time reading in my hammock this week! Every day, I also went for long walks and I practiced yoga using videos PCV Spencer loaded on my computer during our recent Mid-Service Training. I played with boy Blessing, girl Blessing, and little Mira. I visited with Martha and Hermine.

I did not celebrate Thanksgiving in any significant way other than talking and texting with family and friends back in the USA. Our planned PCV Thanksgiving with the volunteers in my region was cancelled since our travel restriction was still in effect. The national elections were on Wed, Nov 27. PCVs were not allowed to travel starting several days before the election until the election results were finalized. The results were delayed. This national election was highly contested with some significant shifts in power expected so Peace Corps was very cautious. No one expected violence but there could be demonstrations, road closures, and high emotions. The results were posted late last night so we can travel again, and I had 2 guests today – one is spending the night.

Maybe I will check some more things off my lists this week or maybe I will spend more time reading in my hammock.

All for now with all my love,

Ellen