Sylvia's Journal

I woke up to the sound of the snowplow, scraping. I remember now that I heard something about another snowstorm in the middle of the night. But we paid no attention. We should have turned the cars around so the exit is easier. I have to shovel a way to the car before I can leave. Snow plows have a way of digging you out and at the same time hemming you in. And all that at some ungodly hour in the morning, while everyone is still asleep and it is dark as the night. The winter here is getting awfully long.

I am in another set of marathon days, partially because I have been taking on some extra curricular activities. I keep thinking that this too will pass. But it is a bit like the email coming in over the transom. Things do pass and then other things come along.

This is why I felt a little anxious last Sunday when Larissa, the daughter of my old schoolmate Xandra, knocked on our door for a visit in mid afternoon as she was showing some schoolmates around the area. Larissa is about Tessa’s age and has been studying English in Boston for a while now; not that she needs any English but because she fell in love with Boston and she keeps coming back each time after she renews her visa for another series of courses. She has, in the meantime progressed to the higher levels of the course but, despite her chatter in English, claims she is not done. Larissa is a citizen of the world. Born in Sri Lanka, raised in Holland, I don’t think I have ever seen her in the company of someone who looks, speaks like her or has her nationality. This may have been her third or fourth visit and each time she comes with at least 2 other nationalities. This time she brought Columbia (Pablo) and Sweden (Lisa).

My anxiousness about work completely and quickly vanished in the company of these young people. Although she promised she’d call next time, maybe this spontaneous visit was better. If she had called I might have said we were busy. Her visit reminded me of my student days in Holland and later in Senegal when no one ever called before showing up (in Senegal we had no phone and it was long before the appearance of cell-phones). I remember missing these unannounced visits when we moved to the USA and we were suddenly in the grown up world in which people went about their own lives and visits required appointments ahead of time. As it turned out Larissa’s unexpected visit was wonderful. This is how we fool ourselves about having no time and long lists of ‘have-to’s and ‘must-do’s. Axel made a big pot of tea and we sat around the table talking about everything and nothing while outside the sun and blue sky looked down on the newly dusted white landscape left after a squall had moved through the area. I appreciated Larissa taking us away from our studies and computers and serving us old fashioned great conversation with wonderful people. Keep coming Larissa!

Yesterday, after work, we celebrated the departure of one of our colleagues to Guyana for a stint of about one year. Maryellen came to MSH as a temp wanting to do simple work that did not require much stress or responsibility. See where that got her…now, six years later, she is off as our country representative in Guyana on an HIV/AIDS program, having to deliver results to the US government that pays for her and her colleagues to do work there. Her departure brought back together a bunch of people, some of whom are no longer at MSH, having moved out voluntarily or involuntarily in the great shake up of last summer at MSH; I was there for the lead-up but mostly missed its execution which took place in July 2007. It was a joyful occasion to see old friends and find out that, in general, they have been faring well. They had another sort of awakening from their ‘must-do’s and ‘have-to’s.