It will happen....eventually.

There is one thing you can almost always count on the East Asians for and that is speed, efficiency is a gamble and free spirited good times were never in the cards. East Africans on the other hand know not of this “speed” you speak of, efficiency is rarer still, but when it comes to good times they may well have invented the concept. A dear friend once relayed the Swahili saying, "haraka haraka haina baraka" and it translates most closely to "Great haste makes great waste". Now what the African people are wasting I am not entirely sure, but I was always under the impression it was my time! Waiting two hours for a piece of fish to arrive at a restaurant, waiting in front of a computer screen for 45 minutes for an email page to load only to realize the internet connection is incapable of supporting any actual emails and waiting another 30 minutes while a vendor finds change on a mere 50 met note becomes common place.

Moving with speed is anything but a pervasive concept in Eastern Africa however there is one facet of life in which speed has crept in, transportation. But do not be deceived, speed does not translate into efficiency. While you may be barreling down a crater riddled road in a tin death trap at 110 kilometers per hour do not anticipate a timely arrival. You and about 25 of your now close and intimate friends, a few chickens and some squid thrown in for good measure will be screeching to a halt every two kilometers. At each near death experience, some may refer to as a bus stop, you to drop off 2 friends and pick up 5 new ones. When you finally do arrive at your destination your are so grateful to have actually made it you don't even care it took almost 13 hours to complete a 350 kilometer journey. Nonetheless I still found the average rate of 27 miles per hour mildly offensive.

After eight months here in Eastern Africa I have become an expert in waiting! I'd say its a skill I have refined, revisited, processed and polished. Armed with this refined sense of waiting I have come to re-evaluate my initial sentiments on the matter of haste. At the risk of sounding cliché I have been taught the virtue is in the journey not the destination. And the journey here in the dark continent has been made with very little haste. They are far from the most productive people on the planet but they're probably some of the happiest. In the face of adversity there is no Xanax or Valium, no Prozac nor Wellbutrin. With their simplicity comes serenity. So, for the time being I will let go of my one million and ones thing to do, my Asia induced mania and I will wait. I will wait for that piece of fish, I will wait for my gmail that never loads, I will wait for my change and I will wait at death's door for late arrivals. I wait knowing that East Africans, can not, will not and perhaps should not be rushed. I am now armed with their assurance that whatever it is, it will happen....eventually.