The Beginning of the End

Habari,

Folks, the count down has begun.  As I stated before, I will be returning to the United States on Friday, July 19^th.  Wow, that’s just one month from today.  I can’t believe it all has come to an end so quickly.  My role with IBM has officially ended, but my role as a temporary Lady of Leisure has just begun.  Although I have stopped working, I’ve decided to keep my July 19th departure date so I can explore Kenya and other parts of east Africa.  In the two years that I’ve been here, I haven’t completed as much of the touristy things as I would’ve liked.

I was reluctant to tell my family that I was taking some time to just explore.  They are hard working people who I’m sure would say, “you need to get your behind home and start working.” That would be the logical thing to do, but it wouldn’t take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity.  I have the means and the opportunity and I think it would be wrong to deny myself.  Some of you may be thinking, why July 19^th.  Well, that was the original time for me to go home for summer break and the ticket was purchased as the second part of a round trip ticket.  It was an omen. 

On June 5^th, Master Pu and his talented wife threw me a lovely party at a great restaurant called Seven, to kick things off.  I got the chance to invite only those individuals I wanted, which made it all the more fun.  I didn’t have to be political and it felt great. There were personalized menus printed, ¾ of which consisted of alcoholic beverages.   I at least thought to wonder whether or not I should be offended, but I wasn’t because it let me know they knew me well. LOL.  The night went late considering the fact that the next day was a workday.  They bought me some lovely gifts, one of which was a spear. J I was hoping I would leave here with a weapon.  It’s good they gave it to me AFTER I stopped working, because there could have easily been bloodshed. LOL. 

As I spend my days leisurely, I can completely understand how people can get caught up in this life.  I've been trying to shake the feeling that I need to find me an old rich man with a bad heart condition...LOL. Okay, that was bad.  You all know I'm just joking, right?  I'm sure I will get bored very soon and I won't be able to wait to start working again...I'm sure of it. ;-) I know my friends are getting sick of me texting and calling them after I've spent a day sightseeing, shopping or taking an afternoon nap. I thought adapting to this lifestyle would have been harder for me, but I surprised myself.  But, I'm sure I will tire of the leisurely lifestyle soon.

Tonight I went out to dinner with the male Nigerian contingent of our account team.  They were unable to attend the send-off, so they took me out to Fogo Gaucho.  We had such a good time.  I love these people.  It’s going to be so hard to say goodbye.  This weekend, a group of us are going to Mombassa to hangout and celebrate Kangai’s 30^th birthday.  All of this leisurely living and celebration is just going to make saying goodbye harder.  A good friend of mine, Lara is coming at the end of the month with her 10-year-old daughter Allison.  We are going to spend a week trying to take in all of the sites of Kenya.  Allison will give both Lara and I an opportunity to see all of the sites that are made for kids, but are really cool.  I can’t wait.

All of this free time has given me a chance to go see sites that I didn’t have time for previously.  I’ve experienced some interesting places like the Nairobi National Museum and the Bomas of Kenya so far.  This will give me a lot of material for the blog until my departure.  I will begin with the next blog.  Until then kwa heri (means goodbye in Swahili).

Asante Sana,

Della Rochelle

Copyright © 2013 by Della Rochelle Williams