Back to the cold

We have arrived home safe and sound. I am very happy to see my family and sleep in my own bed - and to have a shower of north american standard! I am sad to have said goodbye to Africa and its beautiful people and weather. My 6 weeks away seemed so quick. I could have stayed a lot longer.

Parents of Grace Children's Village's headmaster.

I really had no idea that I was operating on 'African time' while I was in Africa. I was still punctual and felt like I was on mzungu time. Now that I am home, I am a little overwhelmed by everything around me. I suppose it doesn't help that I have arrived home one month before my debut at the One of a Kind Show in Toronto (a really big craft show) and have tons to organize for it on top of getting back to a big group of clients waiting for me, bills to pay, emails to answer and general stuff to do. I also feel a little cultural shock at the quantity of food in our grocery store, the number of people shopping for things they 'need' and general disposable nature of our society. I think one of the biggest lessons I learned from my trip is really how much I have and how fortunate I was to be born in such a safe and rich country. Nothing in Africa is reliable. Electricity goes out almost daily, road conditions can become unpassable at any time and governments can be expected to be terribly dishonest at all times. Even with all these things the people I met were not jaded. They were friendly, kind and hopeful

Stay tuned to my blog as I am going to go back and add photos and videos to all of my posts.