Wednesday, September 26, 2012

"Resting"


Suba I absolutely lovely, but… what do people do here for fun? On the weekends? When you finish working? As the weekend approaches, I’ve been asking everyone this question. The unanimous response: we rest.

Rest by doing what? Do you go swimming? Hiking? Dancing? I already know the answer, but I don’t want to believe it yet. We finish our housework (the cleaning seems endless) and then we sit around and watch TV if we have one or watch the day slip away.

Sigh. I suppose I should learn how to “rest”. But honestly, I just can’t. I’m scoping out the ‘town’ trying to figure out how to entertain myself so that I don’t go through my entire stock of books in my first few weeks here. Could I join a fishing crew? Learn how to sail a dhow? Brave the hippos and go for a swim (people seem to think this is crazy)? Get someone to teach me how to ride a motorcycle? Figure out how to make yogurt?

I need a project, a hobby of some sort – something other than just work (because I’m not supposed to be a workaholic this year and because there is only so much work that can be done – I just need to wait on stuff!). I’m sure I’ll find things to busy myself with, but it’s going to take some action on my part – totally different than San Francisco where “stuff to do” simply falls into your lap. And perhaps I will practice “resting”.

2 comments:

Jeanette said...

totally understand what you mean... I'm learning to take a break from everything on Sundays. It's a struggle, but I think with rest, you can go farther. :) Be still...

Brandi Gunn said...

This is the one I tried to post on, and I left a zillion resting ideas that were not necessarily restful:
Snorkeling
learning to sew the perfect skirt
learning how to cook your favorite Kenyan dish if you don't already know how
Perfecting your Swahili (wow!)
Good heavens, dear!
You are doing great!
B