Missing More Than the Turkey

Habari,

I apologize for skipping a beat last week, but I think I was already mourning the fact that I wouldn’t be with my family on Thanksgiving.  This is the first time in over a decade that I missed Thanksgiving at my Mom’s house.  I actually worked on that day so it pretty much felt like any other day until I went back to my apartment and called home.  My niece Charisse answered the phone.  Those of you who really know me, know that my niece and nephew are a source of such pride for me. 

My niece is in her final year of college (Purdue) and I have to brag a little about the fact that she already has 3 job offers from top consulting firms.  Yes, we are very proudJ.  And, she did it all while pledging Delta Sigma Theta and enjoying to full college experience.  Once we were done chatting, she passed the phone to my nephew Greg. 

He’s in his second year of college (University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign) majoring in environmental engineering.  He’s such a little man…well, I should say big man.  Greg is bigger than his dad and you all know, none of my brothers are small men.  I always love talking to Greg because he’s very inquisitive and has interesting opinions about the world around him.  He can hold a decent conversation for a 19 year old. 

However, he can be amusing.  As he was telling me about his current course load, you could hear in his voice how annoyed he was that the courses were hard.  Now, mind you, he is taking some crazy things like Calculus 14 (okay I’m exaggerating a bit, I think it was Calc 4) something called Magnetics and a whole bunch of other scientific jargon that would make my head hurt.   I couldn’t help but to burst out laughing about him being annoyed.  I told him college was supposed to be hard. 

He said, “I know,” but you could hear the, “but still” lingering in his voice.  I asked him if he was still getting out to party and there was this resounding, “of course, you gotta do that.” There was no doubt in my mind that he wasn’t missing too many parties…he is his father’s son.  There’s also no doubt that his GPA is intact in order for him to maintain his full scholarship…yes, I’m still bragging. 

My brother Allen got on the phone next.  The tables always turn when I talk to my brother.  He asked me about how things are going here.  He’s always been my sounding board and mentor about anything in business.  I do believe he thinks I’m crazy by being here doing my thing in Kenya.  He always gets a good laugh about the craziness I have to deal with here.  He gets to hear many of the ‘Things I Can’t Say.” I told him about my recent trip to South Africa.  Yes, I went to Johannesburg from November 16^th through November 20^th. 

I went there to address an urgent situation we have at work, but Master Pu believes I just went there to party and visit wineries.  There were no trips to visit wineries, but there was some partying.  Even I was surprised by that. LOL.  Our South African counterparts know how to have a good time, but there were some late nights working as well.  

There were five of us who hung out.  A South African, Australian, Kenyan, Irishmen and me.  We had a ball…and there was lots of dancing.  Apparently the bathrooms in clubs need more visual direction than I’m use to in the States.  I had to take a picture of these signs.  LOL. 

Ladies Room

Men's Room

On Saturday we went to the Lion Park during the day.  I wasn’t the least bit nervous about checking out the lions.  I guess my threshold for adventure has risen a little bit.  We drove through the park in this caged truck.  They animals roamed freely, but it was early in the afternoon and a little hot so they just barely tolerated us. 

I was telling my brother about the guy in the park whose job it is to chase the lions back into their area when they try to escape.  We both got a kick out of that.   The guy travelled on foot and didn’t have a big rifle, but a pistol.  As I tried to take the guy’s picture, I felt like I was capturing the image of a dead man.

Really?

Not little enough

Once we made it through the park, they took us to a section that they called the “Cub Park.”  Before I got there, I was looking forward to snapping some pictures with baby cubs.  Then I saw the sign to the right and the cubs on the left. 

I changed my mind very quickly.  Some of those crazy people actually took their kids in to pet the cubs.  Some of those kids weren’t as big as the cubs.  That was an experience that I happily missed out on.  I’m not that adventurous or crazy, yet.  LOL. 

All and all, we had a wonderful time in South Africa.  I don’t know how we are going to outdo them when the team comes to visit Nairobi.  But, the “WORK” we did will help our team in Nairobi tremendously!!  Right Master Pu?

I will see you all back here next week.  The countdown to Christmas has begun!

Asante,

Della Rochelle

Copyright © 2011 by Della Rochelle Williams