What's Next?

As I pore over photos from my December Kenya trip, missing the Learning Centre children and staff terribly, I wonder where I'll go next. And when.

For about the past six months, I've wanted to visit Ghana. I have heard so many gasps, sighs, and exclamations of love at the mention of Ghana, I know something special awaits me there. Sierra Leone's rich history intrigues me, and I have to see for myself the destruction and rebuilding about which I've read. I'm curious about Nigeria. I look forward to experiencing all these places, and the people within them, one day.

Yet, entire chambers of my heart are reserved for Kenya. During both trips I've taken to Nairobi, I have felt I was in my second home. I don't find the city so spectacular, but I cherish the warm, bright souls of those who inhabit it. Many in Nairobi were raised in rural areas of Kenya. The sense of community this upbringing engendered in them feels well preserved. When I return to Kenya, I want to visit the rural areas: newness embedded in the familiar.

And then there is South Africa, where the teens whom I taught last summer touched my heart, stretching the limits of its imagination regarding my capacity to share its contents. I was in Cape Town, another city I don't love, but not far from rural areas promising the depth I've seen in people who hail from them.

There are returns to make and new places to explore. But no journey far away can feel whole, before the foundation is settled. This year, my focus is on my home in San Francisco. After a year of international teaching, and intermittent paid work, I look forward to tending my career back into a viable, exciting state. Then, trips to my beloved Africa can be welcome breaks from a life well built.