Greetings from Grandmother's House

First, the basic facts out of the way, for those with short attention spans who will read no further, or for those of you who need a quick review:

1) I’m currently in Alberta and have been back in Canada since late November.
2) I’m on pure holiday, with my primary aims being: rest, reflection, family time & preparation for new job.
3) I’ve been working in Sudan doing development work for the past 2+ years.
4) I was supposed to leave Jan 1 for my new job in Belgium.
5) My visa is delayed, so I’ll likely not leave for Belgium until February.
6) I’m happy, healthy, loved & overall a-ok.

Skating on a lake on a snowy Alberta afternoon. With my sister.

Now, on to the more poetic re-tellings, for the more literarily-inclined among you.

‘Tis the season of merriment, food & family – all of which I’ve been engaging in fully over the past few weeks. I’ve been walking around with many a story to post bouncing about in my head, but with my intensely locally-nomadic lifestyle (last week I slept in a different beds 6 nights running), lack of personal computer (just got a new one), and busy occupation with family, friends & festivities, I’ve yet to find some nice quiet computer time in which to present my thoughts.

happy examples of the season of merriment.

Now the Christmas hubbub is over (which I always find so much more hubbub-ful in North America than anywhere else in the world), and it’s just been confirmed that my start date for my new job in Belgium will be delayed for another month due to my current lack of passport with which to travel and visa in passport with which to stay & work in Belgium. Thus, I have some time, and thus I write.

I’d like to use this gift of time in the coming weeks to work backwards and write about some of the “posts that never were” - stories that I believe warrant re-telling, reflections that have been demanding solidification in word, photos that venture to bless the eye - posts that I simply didn’t have time to write in my final crazy months in Sudan, or on my long journey back to Canada.

First, I begin with the present: with Christmas-time in Canada, but over the next while, will be reflecting on the months past, and posting back-dated updates below in tribute to the Sudan I left and have grown to love.