As promised, I’d like to take a minute to explain why
exactly I’ve decided to write this blog. If I can clearly articulate what in my
mind is a rather cloudy set of ideas, then it could be worth reading. Before I take
on that task, let me give some quick updates.
After my last post I was true to my word and set about doing
an in-room yoga workout. I was this close (makes the “this close” gesture with
his hands) to skipping the workout entirely because some friends had called and
said they just arrived at my building. Luckily there’s a little restaurant/bar
at the ground level so I told them to occupy themselves for half an hour and then
I’d join them. It felt great to get into yoga again and I learned two valuable
things. First, yoga mats are entirely underappreciated. The hard tile floor is
unforgiving, especially once you begin to sweat and you find its difficult
enough keeping yourself from sliding around, let alone following along with the
routine. Second, it will take some dedicate regaining my old flexibility. It
wasn’t until I came face to face with steps in the practice that would have one
time been easy that I realized how I’ve become, dare I say, a little out of
shape. I was discouraged for a moment, but at least I know it was possible for
me once so it’ll be possible for me again. Just have to keep at it!
I spent most of Saturday and Sunday pouring through the virtual
pages of The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood on my Kindle, a
quotation from which I’ve borrowed as the title of this post. It’s the second
book in a series that began with Oryx and Crake, one of my personal
favorites. I enjoyed the sequel, but not as much. Just between you and me, I was
so eager to finish the book because I’ve decided to take on the mammoth series A
Song of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Martin, which you may recognize as the
basis for the popular HBO series A Game of Thrones. Using page count as
the simplest measure of length, the current series is nearly five times as long
as the combined books of The Lords of the Rings. I’ve got my work cut
out for me.
Now, let’s get to the real reason for the post. It’s going
to start very nerdy and we’ll just have to see where it goes from there. Do you
remember the advice Bilbo gives to Frodo early on in The Fellowship of the
Ring? I’m sure you do, but it’s copied below just in case.
“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door," he used to say. "You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to."
Going out the door may be dangerous, but it’s this sense of
adventure that makes it so rewarding. I’m at a point in my time in Ghana where
I’m starting to really take in all the great things about this experience. This blog is where I hope to reflect on what I'm up to. Hopefully it will survive this summer and become a regular fixture in my day-to-day life.
The other motivation for this blog comes from a desire to have a space where I can be transparent with myself and with those around me about whatever catches my interest. I've had some good moments here in Ghana to reflect upon life in general and I'm hoping that I put these thoughts together into a format that makes sense and share them on here. Right now things are in their early stages and they're likely to stay there for some time, but stay tuned and we'll see where things go.
Anyway, we've just lost power in the office so that seems like it may be my signal to wrap things up. The good news it that the generator has come on and everything is working just as it should. The bad news is that no such generator exists back in the dorm. Time to break out the ol' flashlights.
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