Musings and Bumsters

So I have been in the Gambia now for four days and I wanted to share a few musings I've had lately and some thoughts on bumsters. (Explanations to follow)

Written November 5th

On our flight from Brussels to Banjul I glance out the window. Down below I saw the stark contrast of desert, turning to hills to mountain. And on the other side the mountain fell away to unfurl more hills and desert. I couldn't help but be struck, moved, touched by the beauty of this simple transition. More importantly the beauty of the fact that I am able to witness it. I suspect this is a feeling I'll be having a lot as I find myself living, working, laughing and "enjoying" in the Gambia! What crazy ridiculous luck do I have that I get to witness and experience all this. How on earth have I been so fortunate. And more importantly how do I repay this debt to the universe or whomever I owe my gratitude. I think for now the solution is merely mindfulness-recognizing these moments of amazing beauty--and appreciation with perspective that not everyone is so lucky.

And here's one for Dad who knows how much I love lists.

Things that happened today/last night to make me happy:
1) drinking cold beers at an African bar on a warm night.....ahhhhh bliss.
2) waking up, rolling out of bed and going to the beach
3) the humor of bumsters on the beach*
4) swimming in warm, salty, ocean water and then drinking cold Fanta from a glass bottle with a straw
5) getting an ice pop of bissap juice which is called "wanjo" here but is nonetheless delicious

* "Bumster." These are basically young men who spend their days working out on the beach with the goal of trying to impress white female tourists to hire them as an escort for a week and possibly parlay that to a green card. Honestly when you think about it it is a fairly disturbing and desperate phenomenon that really speaks to the endemic poverty in Gambia. But it's also just really amusing to see men doing windsprints, push ups and squat thrusts on the beach.

Finally a quote from a Mary Oliver called "Toad"
"About this cup we call a life. About happiness. And how good it feels, the heat of the sun between the shoulder blades."