[ Yopougon-Sable, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire ]
Hello Transglobalistas, and greetings from Abidjan (still). Why have I stayed this long? Inertia, and a more-necessary-than-I-thought mental health break. I found an inexpensive room in a busy neighborhood where I can reflect, work, and gather the emotional energy required to push through the first anniversary of my departure and into the new calendar year beyond. The sheer magnitude of this continent is sobering, and my default mode of exploring is too thorough to fit into my original two-year plan. Something has to give, which leads to some big questions, demanding creative solutions and bigger decisions. I’ve got a lot to think about.
So here I sit, almost four weeks after my arrival—procrastinating, worrying, distracting myself where possible, staving off an unproductive low-grade panic and trying to evolve my plans. It’s a mental health break and crisis all in one. Also, it wouldn’t be a true Transglobalist update if there wasn’t an illness involved [SPOILER ALERT: it’s a mild case of type-A typhoid fever].
For now let’s skip the details of my sundry cogitations and concerns and options, opting instead to get you caught up with the Wheres, Whos, and Whats of the past weeks. As always, the details are in the photos themselves.
Peace,
—jim
