Only A Week Left To Go

We should have given ourselves more time before going back to Burkina. Upon our return from our orientation trip in the States, we crashed. We were exhausted! We’ve slept in nearly every morning, and often grab a nap in the afternoons too. We need to get well rested before we arrive back in Burkina or we’ll end up with malaria there. The anti-malarial medication that we take will protect us, but only if our own body defences are up and running in good form too. If we’re too run down and fatigued, no medication in the world will keep the malaria at bay.

We’re staying in a nice 2-bedroom condo that a friend of our daughter-in-law’s family is letting us use. It’s right in downtown Waterloo, and thus within walking distance of many essential stores and services. There’s a Starbucks for our morning fix if we need it (although we often prepare our own in the condo), a Subway sandwich shop for a quick & tasty bite of lunch, a Shoppers Drug Mart with post office for all our medical, postal, and miscellaneous needs, a public library with free Internet access, and a variety of ethnic restaurants (the Rude Native Bistro, Margarita’s Mexican resto, Ali Baba’s Middle Eastern resto, the Masala East Indian resto, the Viet Sun resto, and more) for when we get tired of home cooking (or are just too tired to cook at home).

The condo building has a pool and a work-out room. I’ve been making an effort to use the work-out room. I must have put on 20 lbs since we came home in mid-August! All those meetings and meals are starting to have their effect. For the first time in my life, I actually have a bit of a spare tire! Yikes! And my pants are getting tight! I can’t afford a new wardrobe, so I’d better put in my time in the gym.

A little more than a week left before we’re back in a plane and there seems to still be so much to do. We’ve got to get new International Driving Permits (which also require some passport-size photos to be taken), get our stuff organized and packed, get a few remaining supplies, visit some family & friends, and more. As much as we’d like to avoid it, our last week prior to departure is always guaranteed to be a zoo. There just doesn’t seem to be any other way to do it. So I’d better get at it. Talk to you later!