When I was a kid, the first half of most of my diary entries would consist of earnest/gushy apologies for not writing every day (“I still love you, Beloved Diary. Please forgive me for my busyness that should never get in the way of my love for you,” etc.). Those parts are now boring to read, so I’ll avoid repeating the same literary folly in this only-sometimes-updated blog. I’ll just stick with the all-encompassing: My Bad.

December was overall a relaxing month. For my own mental clarification, I’ve split it into three parts: Regional Retreat, The Week Between, and Christmas, which I will now relate highlights of to you, Beloved and Not-Forgotten Blog Peruse-r.

Regional Retreat (lasted approx. 6.5 days):
Ran a 5K and totally won (except for the two people in front of me, but they both have testosterone, so they don’t count)

Sang loudly/goofily just about every Christmas song written since that first holy night

Flew down slides at a water park (Christmases are not white here FYI)

Bonded to greater and lesser extents with MCC volunteers from Mozambique, Swaziland, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and here of course. Our week’s speaker was a Zimbabwean who has been arrested twice for activism against his government’s unjust practices. Interesting and sobering.

The Week Between:
I helped facilitate a week-long workshop for women entrepreneurs. Of the 40 women, about half were HIV positive and most already have businesses so we were sharing some business ideas and hooking them up with microenterprise loans. They enjoyed it, and sang a lot too, because that’s what Zambian women do.

I’ve also been learning a good deal about what development work looks like (it’s sloooow by the way). I called a meeting at the community that’s supposed to support Hope Community School—the Difficult community. I went into the meeting thinking I would give a lecture on how ridiculous it is that all of you can’t seem to find the energy to patch your school’s roof. Instead, I ended up giving a little speech on the importance of education (that is NOT a given here) and asking the community members what THEY want to see for the future of their community school. They ended up writing up a work plan to not only fix the roof but also to build toilets, because those are also lacking at the school. We’ll see if it actually happens, but at this point, I’m glad we had the meeting. If it’s going to be sustainable, it seems like a lot of development work is just asking the right questions.

I read Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, which is coming at you recommended, and pages 108-110 (sardonic analysis of why Christians find it so easy to be cruel) are coming at you VERY highly recommended.

Christmas:
Christmas goes largely uncelebrated by Zambians outside of large cities. However, my Christmas just so happened to be carol-filled and good food-filled and Speed Scrabble-filled and Christ-filled. Come to think of it, it was just what I needed to close up this year.

And now we’re coming into 2008, Beloved Blog Reader. 2007 has been a crazy year of transitions for me—graduating from college in Mass., back to Colorado for a few months, and then over to this faraway land. I started this year declaring that I was a pacifist and have finished the year working hard to find some peace in myself and in God, since my surroundings seem to change as fast as a Lusaka driver.

Maybe 2008 will be steadier? Doubtful. But as Vonnegut would say, “So it goes.”

I think I’ll start the New Year with a resolution to not leave my blog unattended for long periods of time. And to lose weight, because I’m an American woman between 18 and 68 years old, so that’s obligatory.

I hope the New Year finds you surrounded by friends and family. And even if it’s not steady, I have a feeling 2008 is gonna be good.