A Quick Trip Home

Yes, I know, I’ve been slipping on my blog entries :/ Sometimes there just don’t seem to be enough hours in a day to do everything! They say that all changes when you retire. Then you’ve got all day to do nothing, and by noon you’re already done!

So why the long silence? Because we had to make a quick trip home for a family funeral. That meant lots of rushing here and there on both sides of the ocean. In Burkina, we had to get last-minute airline tickets, make arrangements for the guards and our house lady, get others to take our work responsibilities, and pack. In Canada, there was lots of travel for the funeral, visiting with close family and friends, and picking up some needed supplies. We didn’t have our own car, nor a place of our own to stay, but our son, Josh, provided both transportation and lodging. Is this what they call finally getting a return on your investment? :) In any case, it was much appreciated! Thanks, Josh!

We had Internet access at Josh’s place, and I honestly had every intention of posting some blog updates. But I ended up being just too busy answering e-mails, talking to people on the phone, sipping good coffee at Starbucks, pigging out on Korean, Thai, and Greek food (can you tell we’re missing food with different tastes?), watching movies, playing Guitar Hero and Wizard with Josh, Melissa, and the future in-laws, and chowing down a Harvey’s hamburger with fries and onion rings (yes, Harvey’s does indeed make a hamburger a beautiful thing!). And there was hardly enough time to do all that! Honestly, how could you expect me to write blog updates too?

But now we’re back in the saddle in Burkina, and feeling like we’ve just passed through a time warp. One day we’re in hot, dry, developing Burkina, the next in cool, modern, urban Canada, and a few days later, back in Burkina again. These are such completely different worlds that being in one makes time spent in the other seem rather surreal.

And then there’s the time difference that played havoc with our body clocks. In Canada we were constantly falling asleep by 8 or 9 p.m. (which is kind of embarrassing when you’re visiting with folks!). That’s because our bodies were still on Burkina time and saying, “Hey, it’s after midnight! Go to bed!” And just as they were getting used to Canadian time again, we were back in Burkina, laying wide awake in bed at 2 a.m. because our bodies thought it was still only 10 p.m. (Canada time). All in all, a rather disorienting experience. Hope we get ourselves straightened out soon. We’ve got to get back to work here!