.... but not in your hand. Whoever came up with that slogan for M&Ms certainly didn't live in Jb! I'm sitting here, again at 10:20pm, in my humid 30C bedroom. And my M&Ms are melting in the bowl... they're not even making it to my hand before they melt! One of my colleagues, who grew up in this town, told me that the sure sign of the end of the rainy season is when the kites (those horrible big birds who used to scare Zane when he was a kitten!) start circling overhead. Today, while we were batting the birdie around with our badminton racquets, I saw the kites circling. However, the way we were sweating on the court, you would thought we were playing in a rain storm - seriously drenched. At least, the Canadian side of the court was drenched! Our Kenyan opponents didn't seem to be breaking much of a sweat. And I'm sure it wasn't because the Canadian side of the court was out of shape and having to work a little harder than the Kenyan side ;)
I went to get my visa for Ethiopia today. It was quick and painless. While I was sitting in the room in the Embassy, waiting for the woman to come back with my passport, two local men wandered in, both dressed in very sharp suits and shiny shoes. They introduced themselves and one of them struck up conversation. "This is my friend," he says. "Do you recognize him from TV?". I was like, "Um, sorry, but actually, I don't have a TV... so... um...". This chap says, "Well he's a famous singer.". Turns out he worked on an anthem for this country, which is quite popular. I'm still trying to lay my hands on a copy of it, though, so I can learn the words! Anyway, these two guys are American citizens now, but have come back to help build up their birth place. I really enjoy chatting with these guys - there are so many of these returnees, and I think they're all just sort of starving for some English conversation with someone who's been outside the country and who know a bit of what it's like over there. In fact, one of the guys, though he's American, has been to my hometown a couple of times! Small world!
They must have a really hard time finding a place where they "belong". They're still considered "refugees" or "immigrants" or "Africans" in the US or Canada. And yet so many of them basically grew up there, or in a refugee camp while waiting to get there. This one guy I talked to today had been in the US for the last 11 years, and he couldn't have been more than in his mid-late 20s. So he's spent probably more of his life in the US than he has in his birth country. And when he comes back to his "homeland", he doesn't quite fit in, either. He's had different experiences, different education, and has different expectations put on him by his family who had remained here. So it really can't be easy for these guys, and I do actually really respect and admire them for their willingness to come back here at this time to lend a hand, and put their education and experience to good use!
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