It looks like my time in Africa may be coming to a soon end, at least for the time being. I didn't realize it this past August, but the middle of that month marked 5 years from when I first came over. That was a fast 5 years.

I won't go into what's next yet because it is still in the works, but I expect the works to work relatively fast at this point.

In the meantime, it is time to start writing again. I always said, at least in my head, that the purpose of coming here was to pursue some good thing, but then to be able to write about it. The writing part of me has been sucked dry by the work and insane amounts of travel over the years, but I have seen much and should have something to say about some of it by this point. I'm not sure any of it is congealing into a cogent thought or collection thereof just yet, but basic observations are at least in order for the moment.

By my count I've been to 22 of the 56 countries on the continent (if you count the small island nations). If I can mark one more at some point - shouldn't be too hard, I can claim half, and I doubt many can claim that of this place.

My short term goal is to write a post about each - in ascending order of my affinity for the country. Which means we will start at the bottom, with Tchad (Ou, en anglais: Chad) where I've been working recently and have very firm and fresh opinions about.

I have enjoyed my time here, in Africa, in general. It has been my first experience of living abroad, in 2 countries (arguably more, based on the sheer amount of time I stayed in some of them). It has been my first experiences as an expat, and I say they are plural because, well, they are. I hope some of these things gain more clarity as I write about them.

I hope to make the time to include some pictures, or at least do a few photoessayical posts on their own, if not including photos with every post. We'll see.

I'd also like to do some topical posts. Things that might help people understand the context of Africa in our modern world in a bit more detail. Things like languages, and politics, and security, and corruption. Oh yes, the corruption - so very much the corruption. But also things like hope and progress. It almost sounds like I'm running for office.

Stay tuned.


This isn't going to be one of those "I'm going to start blogging again!" blog posts.

I am tired. Really tired. The past 4 out of 5 weeks I have spent away from home, 2 in Pakistan, 1 in Chad, 1 here in Los Angeles. Islamabad wasn't that bad but being in the US again, albeit briefly and pretty much only for work, is so, so damn nice.

You have everything. Everything works. Nothing is broken. Big 12 lane wide freeways with not a single pothole. Not just for miles on end - not ever. Traffic flowing smoothly in both directions, with carpool lanes. People everywhere respecting hundreds of unspoken but mutually agreed rules. No passive aggressiveness. Just niceness.

Everything is possible. If you want cheese on it, you can have it. If you don't want the egg, you can not have it. If you want 10 of them, they aren't going to run out. If you want it at 10 at night, they are as open as they are at 8 in the morning.

Everything is at your fingertips. 16 different versions and flavors of the same thing. In single serving size, or regular size, or family size, or Costco uberfatty size.

The power and water never go out. Or the internet. The internet is freaking everywhere, even on your phone, and it is fast. You can even drink the water, right out of the sink.

So, that has been nice, in all its myriad forms. But I'm still tired. I think a big part of me is tired of not writing anymore.