Can someone mail me an iced caramel macchiato? Thanks.

Mornings are my favorite and hands down the best time of the day. First, they are usually cool, cool to the point where I can sleep cuddling my heavy-ish faux wool blanket, and secondly, it doesn't matter if I wake up and get an early start or if I take advantage of the cold and sleep in, it’s great. Unfortunately, I am human so occasionally I wake up on the wrong side of the bed, and not because my kitten insists on trying to nurse from my furry blanket as I sleep, completely disgusted, next to her and I am too lazy to muster the energy to throw her out of my room (I eventually do though). No, sometimes I just wake up unhappy. Annoyed that I am awake and I have to get out of bed and heat water so I can have a proper bath (unless I am feeling up to a cold shower). Angry that I have to go and talk with people who may or may not be interested in what I have to say. Upset that I slept with my face on my insecticide treated bug net and probably am currently developing some rare malignant tumor on my face (why can’t it just stay tucked in?!). Overall, sometimes I am just a grumpy bear in the mornings. This makes my whole training-for-a-half-marathon-so-I-can-beat-my-mother thing a little tough, since it’s pretty much too hot to run any other time. And yes, the main (only) reason I am “training” for the Vic Falls half marathon is so I can beat my mother. Is this sad? Probably.

I think I am lucky, even if I do have my grumpy mornings, it never stays long and I pretty much always end my days happy. I have had a few moments where I think “If this is how I felt all the time, I’d leave”. I have never truly wanted to leave, because I know that whatever went wrong that day, it’ll be OK and I will move on. I also usually think about what I’d be doing at home and realize I’d be doing nothing of importance, and my grumpy mornings would be more like, “Oh God, there’s 7 people in the Starbucks line! I hope they don’t run out of feta and spinach breakfast wraps!”. Now I’m not saying that isn’t a legitimate concern because I know how good those are, but it’s just a reminder that no matter where I live in the world, I will always have those days. I generally don’t like to write about feeling down (or feelings in general) or being homesick, because it doesn't really matter. I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon because I genuinely like it here.  Every day is an adventure, and sometimes my adventure is watching baby goats fight, or practicing carrying a basket on my head (it’s impossible, they have flat heads or something).

So before arriving we were told about all the free time we’d have and how If there is anything we have wanted to learn or skill we wanted to develop, now is the time. You have two years of seemingly endless free time and I have been trying really hard to start learning all sorts of crap since arriving in country. I think I currently have like, ten books started? And none of them are super interesting to me, it’s all stuff I WANT to know, but there is a reason I don’t know it; it bores me. But, I continue to try and one day, I will know everything! Right now I just look at all the books, articles, and my harmonica, become overwhelmed, and then resort to making potato bread and reading Harry Potter. I stick to what I know, apparently.

I’m also considering trying 30 soups in 30 days. It’s always a party here in Mosetse. Please stay tuned as my blood pressure skyrockets.