Blurbs From Eunee's Mind (and Life)

21 years, yes 21 years, after leaving Malawi, I returned. I returned to a land that was so familiar, and yet so foreign. As we drove through the city of Lilongwe, I tried to sift through my memories and dust off the cobwebs to help my eyes drink in the familiar; but a lot was also registering as something completely strange. Despite having spent one-third of my life (the beginning one-third) of my life in Malawi, the first few days did not feel like home to me. And I was distressed. But still I looked, staring at the sights that greeted me, looking for the signs of the familiar. And when I did, I felt like I had met an old and dear friend. But among those familiar - the banana trees....those sweet, yummy bananas: nothing like Dole or Chiquita bananas you get in the States.... the papaya trees....and boy did those papayas taste soooooooooo absolutely goooooooood!!! And of course, one of my most beloved sights: Lake Malawi - oh so beautiful. Here are those familiar rocks at Salima.... I

Before I go on to blog about my other adventures, I wanted to blog a bit about my conference experience in Durban. I know I already have an entry, saying a little bit about it, but there's so much more that I learned from that conference. Some of it is expressed in one of my blog entries on my "Be A Voice" blog which you can access here . While sometimes I dislike conferences because it's usually daunting to go by myself (and I'm often attending conferences by myself), I am always glad I went to most of them. Well, I couldn't have been more glad to have gone to this one. Life is always interesting in that the path of least resistance isn't always the most rewarding or the most inspiring or the most educational. The conference itself was just inspiring. I was moved to remember that there was a reason I quit my job as a school psychologist to move on to Social Welfare - something I wouldn't have discovered if it weren't for my friend Cha who listened

On my return from the conference in Durban, I was fortunate enough to spend a few days with my childhood best friend. It was amazing to be able to meet her again some twenty years later. We had spent time catching up and also attended her daughters' cross-country event. We also had dinner at this African-themed restaurant (where else would we eat when in South Africa?) called Moyo's. This picture is of us after getting our face painted. :) For dinner I had springbok, and also managed to taste a bit of ostrich. Very interesting, and pretty good - both of them, I'd say. :) The next night I actually met up with some other people that I had not seen in twenty-one years. It was just amazing to see us all grown up (the kids), and the adults were somewhat the same, except for a bit of age of course. So I managed to have this big old reunion in Johannesburg. Oh, and we unknowingly drove by Nelson Mandela's house in Jo'burg, only having realized it as we drove past wondering

I have been back in New York for almost a week now, and have been adjusting to life back in the States after being gone for 6 weeks. It is hard to be back, even though it is good to be back where I can turn on the faucet and get hot water without waiting an hour or two, and where there are no scheduled or unexpected blackouts once, twice, or even up to 4 times a day. And I cannot say enough about how much I missed the internet service we get here in the States, as you will see in my later entries. The lack of appropriate internet has kept me from updating you on these blogs since I left Durban, South Africa. So I will try to catch you up on all my experiences and my stories throughout the next few weeks. :) It is also wonderful to be back in my own car! And I've missed my friends and family, but I also miss the friends I've made back in Malawi and elsewhere. So my return home is bittersweet....