Roll with it

I've been learning that things often don't work as one might expect. Jessica offered priceless advice during a moment (okay, a day or two) of frustration as I came to realize that things often take longer than anticipated or don’t happen as planned, often without explanation: "If you can't change it, roll with it." I now repeat that to myself on a daily basis. Purchasing a ticket to fly from east to west Africa was no small feat. In the western world, we're accustomed to using credit cards and the internet to buy tickets. In Africa, some tickets can only be paid for in cash, in person, and involve separate trips to the offices. Or, one might go into the office only to find that "the flight does not go that day." Really? It was posted online and the agent on the phone booked my reservation that day. "It doesn't go that day." Ah. Well, so it goes.

Another lesson that I learned early on was to schedule no more than one appointment per day. If you are ambitious enough to try to fit in two meetings, one is likely to take long enough that you just can't make it to the other one.

It was with great reluctance then, that I attempted several things in one day: picking up that plane ticket in town, meeting with the director of a humanitarian organization for an informational interview, and heading to the airport in time to check in for a flight. I couldn’t believe it when I accomplished 3 for 3! That's the trick: be pleasantly surprised when things run smoothly, and roll with it when things divert from that imaginary plan.

Despite the pleasant surprise and other adventures ahead, there were tears when I said 'bye to Jess. The uncertainty of everything was sinking in and I felt like I was taking a huge leap of faith. Yet, I still trusted my gut feeling - the feeling that this jaunt across the continent was indeed a good idea.