Work, Bread, Water and Salt: 17 Years and Counting

I’m from a small town, and grew up in a bit of a bubble. Luckily, in that bubble with me was a tight circle of friends. Since the moment we left that town, these friends have spread around the country and world like dandelion seeds carried on an adventurous breeze. I’m grateful that, unlike dandelions, we regularly come back together again where we grew up, swapping plenty of stories and laughs.

I wouldn’t change these home reunions for anything, but recently those of us living far from home have also started venturing to see each other in our current habitats. Taking advantage of cheap tickets or timely work travel, we’ve been able to bridge chasms that have opened in the 11 years since we knew the daily details of each other’s lives. These have been opportunities to meet friends and girlfriends, see places only known from photos, and understand passions and daily life far better than stories can ever express.

In April, a series of work visits across India fell into place, and just in time- I managed to catch Derek on his last week in the country. He had been living in Delhi for years, teaching at a music school by day and jetting off every few months on musical outreach assignments from Sudan to Palestine to Turkmenistan.

He was a gracious host for someone wrapping up three years living somewhere. If he’d caught me at the same time in Zambia I would’ve likely been a harried wreck. I stayed in his rooftop bungalow overlooking the sprawling, smoggy mega city. In the short span of a weekend, I met his friends, listened to their music, saw his school, ate all the amazing food constantly within his reach, and visited many a ruin and rooftop.

(Rooftop sunset through the haze)

Right around that time I got a message from Thom, who’s been living in Austria, about bargain airline tickets he’d found to East Africa. Suddenly and unexpectedly, he and his girlfriend Chri had tickets into Uganda and out of Kenya, and plans to stay with us along the way. The first half of the year was very busy so their visit was quickly upon us, and by then our friend Andrew had procured himself a ticket too. Andrew lives out in California, but has close ties in the agricultural community all over East Africa after half a dozen visits to the region. This would be the third time we’d seen each other in Kenya over the past 5 years.

(Outside Nairobi, 4 years ago)

I picked the 3 of them up at the Uganda border, dusty, sweaty and bearing gifts of recycled plastic toys. Bringing them to our home was both surreal and natural. They fit right into our house, or as Andrew was camping, our lawn. With their combined travel expertise and Andrew’s impressive Swahili, they were out and about during the week exploring. Over a long weekend, all 5 of us road-tripped through the Rift Valley to see Lake Baringo in central Kenya. The lake is a paradise for bird watching, and our campsite was home to a number of friendly starlings and hornbills. A nighttime close encounter with foraging hippos also upped the excitement factor. It was too soon before they moved on from Bungoma to visit other parts of the country. They were awesome to have here even for a short time, bringing plenty of great food and good laughs with them. I look forward to many reciprocal visits in the near future!