Back from a break
Not surprisingly, the last couple of weeks had worn us out to the extent that we thought we needed a long break. We returned yesterday early morning, three days earlier than planned.
We spent a long rainy week (rainy season in Central Africa!) in Kribi at the seaside in Cameroon last week. As always when you book when you want to get away from it all, you think any place will be better than where you are, and one tends to overestimate the duration one needs. That's a mistake. Just getting away from our country of posting was good, but without sunshine even Kribi had not much going for it, apart from great food (tons of fresh shrimp, ahh) and lots of time for and with the children. What saved this holiday was the fact that a colleague who has a similar positiopn to mine for the same employer in a neighbouring country was staying in the same hotel that week. I had only seen him once before, but we and our families turned out to get along very well and to have lots of things in common in terms of age, family size and aspirations, outlook on life, work and life experiences etcetera. A. and I also discovered that for all the hardships of our posting, there are definitely places that are much worse (like theirs).
A. and I have come back refreshed. We got the stress related to our medical adventures with M. out of our systems. Also nice is the more intensive bonding with the children which I experience during leave. Especially R., our youngest, is growing up fast, becoming ever more mischievous. He's incredibly good natured: at 19 months he didn't cry even once all week. In fact he almost never cries. He is happy, laughing, very sociable, and playing the joker all the time. Strong-willed like the other two. Amazing. He and T. are thriving here in Africa. So is M., but somewhat less so as he is not enjoying his French school too much.
I came back intellectually reinvigorated as well, ready to start (and having actually started) reading again on my latest field of ever increasing interest - the Buddhist outlook on life - which I hadn't studied much since we left for our Summer break in July. Also ready to take on a number of issues at work. I am a bit puzzled at how one week of utter lethargy at the seaside can have such an energizing effect. OK I was tired but not that tired, was I, and just a week isn't all that long?
We spent a long rainy week (rainy season in Central Africa!) in Kribi at the seaside in Cameroon last week. As always when you book when you want to get away from it all, you think any place will be better than where you are, and one tends to overestimate the duration one needs. That's a mistake. Just getting away from our country of posting was good, but without sunshine even Kribi had not much going for it, apart from great food (tons of fresh shrimp, ahh) and lots of time for and with the children. What saved this holiday was the fact that a colleague who has a similar positiopn to mine for the same employer in a neighbouring country was staying in the same hotel that week. I had only seen him once before, but we and our families turned out to get along very well and to have lots of things in common in terms of age, family size and aspirations, outlook on life, work and life experiences etcetera. A. and I also discovered that for all the hardships of our posting, there are definitely places that are much worse (like theirs).
A. and I have come back refreshed. We got the stress related to our medical adventures with M. out of our systems. Also nice is the more intensive bonding with the children which I experience during leave. Especially R., our youngest, is growing up fast, becoming ever more mischievous. He's incredibly good natured: at 19 months he didn't cry even once all week. In fact he almost never cries. He is happy, laughing, very sociable, and playing the joker all the time. Strong-willed like the other two. Amazing. He and T. are thriving here in Africa. So is M., but somewhat less so as he is not enjoying his French school too much.
I came back intellectually reinvigorated as well, ready to start (and having actually started) reading again on my latest field of ever increasing interest - the Buddhist outlook on life - which I hadn't studied much since we left for our Summer break in July. Also ready to take on a number of issues at work. I am a bit puzzled at how one week of utter lethargy at the seaside can have such an energizing effect. OK I was tired but not that tired, was I, and just a week isn't all that long?
posted by Emilian at Tuesday, November 01, 2005
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