A year ago I was still in Congo. The rush of the last couple of months in Kinshasa was at its peak and my Guate days still seemed like a desirable but distant possibility. I dreamt of bookshelves for my geeky anthro books and for my favorite historical fiction, for my pseudo-copper Cameroonian cats and the gray and blue water jugs that survived the bullets from March 2007.
I am here now. My books are patiently awaiting their shelves but the sofas that will see many hours of reading are already in place. So is my energy efficient fridge (another important element of last year's imagining). We're in Guate now. Despite having plunged right back into work here, and after getting reacquainted with the local forests, I still need to remind myself that the key to our place is indeed THE key to OUR place, never mind the mortgage. Funny how I have stocked up á-la-Kinshasa with enough non-perishables to last a small-sized siege. I suppose Kin will never completely leave me, nor do I want her to.
I toyed with the idea of changing blogs and start a Guate Days one, but I think I will stick to the Congo one for now and go from there. After all, I think of Congo almost daily, here in the city and particularly when I am in Petén, where the heat and the humidity confuse me at times and I feel like the forest here is the forest there and one day I WILL merge my memories into one long journey down one long river.
I know just a few folks will appreciate the following picture in its fullest (Lisa, Paya, if you are reading). Things are similar but certainly not the same. Following the Congo-Guate analogy, I suppose that Flores and Santa Elena would be my Mbandaka. This is where I spend the most time when I am out in the field. The "Auberge the Bolls" would be the Casona and the Congo River would be Lake Petén Itza. Voilà my new "chez moi."
The awesome Guate pics were taken by Charlie Watson. Thank you Charlie!
