Since the mayhem over the elections broke out in Kenya just a week ago I have been checking in with the news and with the Flametree blog that I regularly follow. The author has been diligent about writing and if you are interested in what's going on there I recommend checking in with her blog. I find it so much more insightful to hear a voice other than a reporter's when something like this happens. She mentions a few times about the surrealism of the situation - that despite the violence and strife surrounding her she must carry on with daily concerns. I remember feeling similarly after 9/11, and after the flooding here in Jakarta last January. I remember the odd feeling of having this ache in my heart and these fears for other people and this abstract knowledge that my life may change as a result, but that the reality of my day didn't change very much. I still had to go to class and do my homework (I was in grad school when 9/11 happened), or take care of C and find a house during the floods. Anyway, here's praying the Kenyan political parties figure out a solution.
Speaking of floods, rainy season has hit with a vengeance and there are once again floods in and around Jakarta. However, the situation is not nearly as serious as it was last year and the damage has been much more localized. Our complex was not affected last year so we have few concerns that we will experience any flooding.
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Hi! thanks so much for this post---I'm so out of my schedule that I haven't been checking blogs and it's great to check in on you again and then to find this!.
And thanks especially because you articulated exactly the mood I've been trying to get across---so I reached someone at least! it's been surreal indeed, that moment when I realised the country was about to spiral seriously downward (after Kibaki took the elections on tv) and yet the girls were all uptight about the princess dresses---that pretty much sums up my life here now.
This week things have calmed down and now it's just this sustained sort of shock, stupor, disorientation and irritability. But now I will continue catching up on your blog to escape all those emotions and live vicariously!
Best to you and the family, e
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