Laurels

I honestly feel like I’ve been in a transient phase since 2018. I was called by the landlady of the compound last night and told the new unit, a small compact apartment, was ready and I could move in. This is therefore literally the first day since October 2018 where I am living somewhere I can call permanent, with residency paperwork all in order and in the correct country for the work I am supposed to be doing. Marvellous! And this entranceway gives it a holiday apartment feel. It was partly self-inflicted that I went to Mozambique without demanding groundwork had been put in place, however we are spontaneous and rash when we’re young (nearly 36).

I walked into the new place and the landlady had just finished tinkering with the TV alongside a technician. The Commonwealth Games athletics was on. Commonwealth Games athletics and unpacking stuff in a new place? Yes, I’ll take it, thank you very much.

In the evening it was getting late but I juiced almost a whole defrosted watermelon to avoid it going manky. In the end I went to sleep with about two litres of watermelon juice sloshing around the stomach. After cleaning up the kitchen I walked into the bathroom. I initially thought someone (although it could only have been me unless someone can wriggle through iron bars on the second floor) had bled all over the bathroom floor. However, no, the drains are very sketchy as the red juice all over the floor was watermelon, which had come up through a drainage hole. It transpires that I can use the kitchen and bathroom sinks for approximately ten seconds before the floor floods through the hole. Encouraging water conservation, yes, yet perhaps a few teething problems to sort out with the new place.

However I maintain the positive vibes from earlier in the day. You are able to gauge relative levels of contentment by comparing to how you’ve felt at certain periods in the past. And I can rest well on my laurels tonight.