9 months down, 11 to go…
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dear Nevis,
how are you? over the previous months, i have often felt like we were in a long-distance relationship even though you are just outside my front door.
but not this month. with a car, i am seeing more of you than ever and it’s exciting to learn new things about you every day. i love seeing where some of your unnamed roads meander without meaning, like short stories made longer with the adventure of telling.
i spent part of this month with wonderful marvelous Tiffany and she introduced me to a whole new side of you that i never would have experienced on my own. just seeing you through her eyes was fascinating and enlightening. you are the kind of island that likes to stay up all night partying, but you are also the type of island that can curl up with a good book in the hammock and doze sleepily for hours on end.
i met a few more people that were born or raised here, from porters across the street to beach vendors selling strange looking pipes that sorta look like the animal they were meant to represent if you turn your head just so… i also met some of the guys from Missouri that are down here on 3 or 4 week rotations drilling into your volcanic rock looking for geothermal power. apparently, they have dug a hole as far down as Mount Nevis is high!
May is also the month that brought itty bitty attack kitty into my home. nobody believes that i will be able to eventually give up the adorable little guy to a more permanent family, but i’m prepared to prove them all wrong. oh, the lack of faith! i’m actually getting quite practiced at this love-and-let-go thing.
the weather is getting more varied. are you bracing for hurricane season? the rains seem to be coming back slowly but surely. my front lawn is dry and prickly and brown, but the shady back is tall and green. there have been a couple of mornings where i looked out the front window (and glanced at the noisily drumming roof) and have been thankful i don’t need to bring a full spare set of clothes to school. i miss my bike, but i really like staying mostly dry and not toweling off with paper products in the school bathroom.
as usual, the month positively flew by. this time last year, i was en route to Zambia. can you believe it? can you believe everything that has happened in these 12 short months?
i can hardly imagine what the next 11 will hold.
lotsa love,
`Jennifer XO
May 31st, 2008 at 3:54 pm
lovely jen:)
May 31st, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Speaking of hurricane season (and being in Orlando at the moment and hearing of nothing but…) – friendly reminder to make sure you have your emergency kit stocked and ready! We want you to emerge in October or November safe and sound!
June 1st, 2008 at 11:01 am
reading your quick notes on the left (kitty’s inscription (!) and your latin medical notes) gives me the impression that you and your cat speak the same language :))
and about your Nevis letter, remember what the Month Pyton’s say: nobody expects the Spanish inquisition! oh no.. not that one :)) This one: always look on the bright side of life :) whatever happens happens for a reason..
Elif , xox
June 1st, 2008 at 2:28 pm
I can’t believe you only have 11 months left! It reminds me of how long I’ve been reading your blog jen!!!
I bet you’re loving the neuro, I on the other hand am not loving my ‘molecular medicine’ revision
June 1st, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Actually this is your evil wicked stepmother using your dad’s computer. I just listened to a podcast on CBC Tapestry; it was an interview with Vancouver physician Gabor Mate. He has just written a book about his work with addicts on the lower East Side of Vancouver. I think you might find it useful and/or interesting given your impending line of work:
Tapestry – May 25, 2008 – Filling The God-Shaped Void
The French philosopher Blaise Pascal believed there is ‘a God-shaped void in the human being’, a kind of longing which can only be filled by the Eternal. If there’s a God-shaped void in the human being, somehow or other, it is going to be filled. With alcohol? Drugs? Work? Music? Shoes? Gabor Maté knows the void well. Dr. Maté is a physician who works with addicted men and women in Vancouver’s downtown eastside. Mary Hynes speaks to Gabor Maté. His latest book is In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts.
http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/pastpodcasts.html?26#ref26
Hope you like it. EWSM
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:16 am
: )
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Your website is all wonky on me again…both on my home computer and here at work. I just get white space unless I click on something from the side. Can you work your magic and fix it again like you always do?
June 2nd, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Blame the wonkyness on itty bitty being naughty. ;-) (I’m seeing it too).
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:40 pm
All fixed on this end..thanks :)
June 30th, 2008 at 4:46 am
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