A week away keeps the crazy at bay

No filter needed

As you may have noticed, I have been slacking on my blog posting duties. I am sure all of my followers (mostly meaning my grandmother) have been super disappointed not to have the latest update on my fabulous life. Not to worry though, I'm about to jam as much of my last week of adventures into this post as possible.

Last week, I had the privilege of joining my fellow Group 41ers at a conference called Reconnect. The name implies exactly what took place, we reconnected and discussed our separate experiences over the past 3 months at site. We also had some boring  informative presentations over various topics related to current and future projects. It was so lovely to meet up with everyone else and see their smiling faces once again. Although hearing about how stellar their projects had been going gave me a pang of jealousy, I was able to muster my way through and accept that I am where I am. As they say, comparison is the thief of joy. (I don't know who they are, but they seem fairly smart.)

We stayed in a pretty janky hotel, i.e. no locking doors and pipes as loud as a foghorn. But the view was spectacular. We were up in the mountains overlooking Windhoek and it felt like we were on top of the world. Very Titanic-esque. At one point I even attempted to keep up with my training for the 10k and run up and down the hills, but that only ended in an asthma attack and a deep sense of embarrassment. Oh well, exercise has never really been my thing.

'Let's hope we don't die' face

After a week of classes and avoiding the ever-present bees, a large group of us loaded up in our pre-arranged combi and departed for Swakop for The Lucky Star Marathon. You know how it feels to visit a spa after months and months slaving away at your desk job? Well that's exactly how it felt to arrive in Swakop. I was instantly refreshed with the smell of salt water in the air and the promise of exciting events to come. But first I just had to make it through the death that was my upcoming 10k race...

We did it!

I will say that although I was really dedicated to my training regimen leading up to the race, I had slacked off majorly in the 2 weeks directly prior. The asthma attack while trying to run at Reconnect was also not very good at boosting my confidence. But I got up at about 4:45 in the morning and put on my colorful Nike gear anyways. Too late to turn back now. Since I've never done any form of a race before and I don't think I have even run a timed mile since 6th grade, my goal was just to finish the race.  And I did exactly that. I wasn't even last! (Even though some dude with his kid in a stroller definitely beat me.)

Some of those crazy
full marathon people

After I finished my race, I was able to cheer on my fellow beastly volunteers who submitted themselves to the torture of a half and full marathon. I am so impressed with these guys, I don't even know how to explain it. Once we all finished up and began limping back to our bungalows, it was time for the fun to begin. First order of business was delicious food in our bellies. We went to a lovely restaurant directly on the beach where we could enjoy noms and a view. Even though I hate sand, it was refreshing to walk barefoot along the beach. At one point I did get soaked by a rogue wave, but I made it through.

Definitely not staged...

After a romantic dinner with my lady lover, Sinthu, (plus Yen and Jatin) we moved on to the real fun. It was time to go to the one bar where all the white people/tourists congregate to dance in circles and fist pump the night away. We were also celebrating Kaan's birthday, but that's not nearly as important. (Jk, love you kid.)

I had a glimpse of this place the last time I was in Swakop, but the culture shock returned in full force when I was there again. My version of culture shock consists of uncontrollable laughing and my hands waving in the air. It's not the worst way to deal with the craziness around me, but I should probably learn to pull myself together before I get back to the states and have a meltdown in Target.

Anyways, we showed off our best moves and I even paid a ridiculous sum for Appletinis that came with sparklers in them. (Totally worth every penny, btw.) Because we were all basically walking zombies by 11pm, we called it an early night and returned back to our cozy bungalows. I snuggled in next to Sinthu and let the sleep sheep take me away.

The next morning was a whirl of movement, everyone trying to get packed up and ready to depart to our various locations around the country. After a fully satisfying brunch complete with 2 iced coffees and cheesecake to-go, I cried just a little as I said goodbye to my dear friends. The girls and I loaded up in an unmarked vehicle and headed towards Hardap. We passed our time on the ride by discussing all of the highlights of our trip and who had a crush on who. Typical lady behavior.

I arrived back at site with my heart full of happiness. Not only because I am surrounded by the best group of peers I could have imagined, I was also happy to be home and able to immediately get pantsless and binge watch Parks and Rec. It's amazing how you can feel so isolated at site, but then you realize after a week of non-stop human interaction you need your space too. I was happy to return to my kitties, who really didn't care whether I was home or not.

Over the next few weeks, there will be some big changes taking place. I'll wait until they are official to fill you guys in. For now, I'm going to embrace my current situation and figure out how to celebrate my birthday week. A chocolate dipped ice cream cone is a given, but maybe I'll head into Windhoek for some sushi as well. Who knows? The world is my oyster.