Three Cups of Tea

Morning! No, I am not talking about my three cups of tea I've had today. In fact, as of now, just water in my system! I actually am referring to a book that I have just finished, called Three Cups of Tea. It got me thinking about a few things...

So, it is about a man who goes hiking in Pakistan, gets sick and lost and nearly dies. Then he stumbles into this village where they nurse him back to health. After that experience, he decides that his life mission is to build schools, especially girls schools, in the most remote areas in Pakistan and Afghanistan. What a story!

What I like about not just the story but what he actually does, is that it is really organic. He went somewhere, felt a certain way, saw a need and just did it. It is really a different way of thinking things. Maybe even a little naive. But he started out just doing what he does and happened to find something he loves doing that is also not necessarily a bad thing to be doing! I've been having lots of conversations lately where people have been telling me not to worry about planning, the future, and that sometimes things just happen and doors open when you don't expect it. I only usually half believe them and think that sometimes you have to force a bit. But, when opportunities present themselves and you like them, why not go ahead?

I guess I've been thinking about this a lot because lately, it seems like there have been possibilities for my next steps, not really within the realm of what I had planned. But, then, also, a couple things in my life have change, so why not consider these options that I wasn't paying attention to beforehand? It seems like the perfect time.....okay, I'm being ambiguous, but I'm sure some people know what I'm talking about, where they found themselves in a space where they had never imagined themselves being and with many many decisions. I know it all works out but to what extent do we have to try and control these situations? I wonder....

In other news, this morning I woke up to Toni Braxton blasting in my building. And while I really do love the song "Unbreak my Heart" I have to say that at 7AM this is a bit much. The walls are shaking. Yesterday our neighbor's son turned 20 and I think that this music has been all night although my roommate and I happily barred the door and stuffed earplugs in our ears so I can't be entirely sure. I am also entirely sure that the mom is not there or this would not be going down. I thought of going outside, but since I am in my pajamas and I don't think I'd like to open my door to boys still carrying on their party from last night, I think I'll pass. Plus right now the mood has changed to a sort of Portuguese gospel theme, so it seems OK.

Other than that, this month has been great. I was teaching a lot and I just finished grading half of the exams. They were portuguese so it took a little more time than I had expected, that and the fact that I realized some of the answers in the key were wrong at some point through the stack. Ah well. So now in these coming weeks, I plan to finish this so-called report I am meant to be working on as well as getting started on the next coupld of research projects, one with a NGO that is going to be doing research at the UCM and another that will take us to the national park to think about how we can research traditional plants with the local communities. Then in a couple of weeks I head back to Maputo to present our findings from our study in April and to begin planning for the 2nd phase, the quantitative part. Should really be interesting.

And of course, after that, I go back for the wedding. As we speak I am ordering cards for the bachelorette party from Hallmark.com. It is kinda surreal. I had tried to do it last week but got too overwhelmed so stopped! Now, I have to go for it. It isn't that bad, I think that I just feel funny about the whole idea in general!!

What else...not much. I just started reading the post-colonial history of luso-phone africa, but I won't bother you with the details of that.

Let me get started on my Sunday....as soon as I have details and pictures, I will be sure to post them and keep everyone filled in....

Ate logo,
Aparna