Exhale

As quoted from "Tales of a Female Nomad" by Rita Golden Gelman...." ' I tell my brother I AM in a real world, it's just not HIS world, and he smiles knowingly. "I give you another six months. You'll get it out of your system."

They do not understand, the more I live it, the more I want it. 

...I'm not running away. I'm running toward....toward adventure, toward discovery, toward diversity."

My world is not perfect...the picture here shows what rainy season in Venezuela looks like out the windshield of my car on my drive home. The streets are flooded and often impassable. Last week, in addition to days of flooded streets, the one day that streets were somewhat dry, we had a protest. That day, citizens burned tires in one of the two main roads in town to protest the constant power outages. The regularly 20 minute drive home from school became an 80 minute epic maze. See....it's not perfect.

Yet....I am happy. My job is fulfilling and fun. Teaching students from around the world who come from families of influence is inspiring. I truly hope that one day I will see the name of one of my students in world headlines as a leader who is making a difference.

I am meeting new people. This week, those new people included men...DATES.....and that was interesting. Both men turned out to be no-so-available....but it was fun to see my new culture from that point of view. Men here chase after MUCH younger women. Thus, women in their 40's are often doomed to a life of single-parenthood as their husbands move on to start new families (often TWICE, even,....as it is not rare to see 60+ year old men with 20 something year old women and toddler children).

Where am I headed?....onward...for sure. I am addicted to this adventure and the experience of pushing my limits. In some ways that does include things like kiteboarding and SCUBA-yet, in other ways, that merely includes an insatiable thirst for experiencing new things beyond mere physical challenges. I yearn to know women across the globe-their trials and their joys. I want to taste the sounds of new languages. Finding the key to new cultures is better than being a spy and uncovering a devious, subversive plot. My energy is derived from these drives.

I hope to continue to give you a glimpse into my soul...and not just record the world that I see. This adventure is about so much more than teaching. It is about more than a salary or a foreign language. This is a lifetime dream realized. When I went to Africa as a young mom of two toddlers, I knew I could survive....yet, I missed the part about truly living. Now, I have been handed a second chance to truly live life in the fullest way possible. I am not going to miss a single minute...I am going to meet people, and learn languages, and taste foods, and make friends, and try to understand the hearts of people all over this globe.....and my quest has begun in Venezuela!!!

Thanks for traveling along.