Bring it on!

Like a breath of fresh air.  Back in Mtwara.  It seems like such an idyllic lifestyle compared to the hustle, bustle and mayhem, cold stares, and poverty of Dar es Salaam, a city simply outgrowing itself.  Life seems simpler here, and while there is extreme poverty as well, the affect is different.  The lack of crowds gives one a feeling of relief, and dirt and dust and car fumes gives way to lush green vegetation, gentle breezes from the sea, and the somehow reassuring site of huge baobab trees.  According to Arab legend, the devil went around Africa ripping the trees from the ground and sticking them back in upside down, giving the appearance of having their roots pointed skyward.  They remind me of Mustafa from the Lion King, and while I keep looking, I have yet to see a monkey.  Dar's bumper to bumper traffic is replaced with ladies walking idly by in brightly coloured kangas, hips swaying, blue plastic bins full of fish or nuts or laundry balanced firmly on their heads, tough sweaty men with bicycles from the 50's with long logs of firewood tied to the frame, huge bags of charcoal balanced picariously on top, struggling up hills or careening down the other side with little semblance of control, feet windmilling madly, school children running about in blue shorts and white shirts, and everyone laughing and smiling and waving at our stereotypical white landrover.  You cannot compare the homeless in Dar banging on your windows in heavy traffic to Mtwara's mud huts and grass roofs, the Tanzanian's brightly coloured crafts proudly on display by the lazy roadside, the shop owners laughing and talking in the shade of a nearby tree. Where else will you find beds being handmade on the side of the road?  I like this place.

But despite this idyllic life, I have decided to complicate my life further.  I have agreed to manage the operation here, so days of snorkelling have been replaced with days of meeting with oil execs and endless phone calls and responding to a steady stream of emails.  Why?  First and foremost, because there was a need.  But I appreciate that I'm restless and if you put a challenge in front of me, for how much I'd like to think I could walk away and take the easy route, I know I will jump on it.  It's a good opportunity in many ways.  I keep busy, I assure myself a placement in Mtwara for awhile, and the experience I gather will be invaluable, not just career-wise, but I find in the challenges, I learn about myself.  It will cut heavily into my visits to the clownfish though.

When I found out I was going to be touring on an operation in Turkey, I didn't know I'd be managing the operation until just before I left home.  I had managed an air ambulance base in North Western Ontario for years, so I wasn't overly concerned, but I still felt I was in over my head more than a few times.  Thankfully the crew members in country really stepped up and helped all they could, I couldn't ask for better people, so the job was tasking but pleasant.  Despite a few headaches, I quite enjoyed the challenge, and it didn't cut into my flying at all, something I won't let happen.  Managing in Africa is turning out to be an entirely new ballgame. The crew members are first rate once again, and I can lean on them heavily and they'll ask for more, but Africa is challenging.  The learning curve is steep.  But I hope to come out the other end with a wealth of experience, to take on to whatever comes next.