This past Wednesday was swimming day. Once every week, our group drives down the mountain, jumps in the bay, and practices swimming for an hour and a half, all in the name of fitness. The stated goal is for each person to be able to swim a mile's distance, or about 1600 meters. My first time out I managed about 250 meters before I gave up!
Honestly, I can't swim real well. In fact, I sink; even in salt water. It takes a lot of energy to keep me afloat and moving. Adrienne, on the other hand, is an endurance machine. She skims along with no regard to time gone or energy spent, and she had no trouble reaching the goal!
We came up with a plan for the second swim this past Wednesday. She would swim alongside me and keep me company while I labored on in silent misery. The only problem was that instead of being silent, we both started making jokes about how we could see our favorite foods "just over there at the other buoy" (2 buoys, 100 meters apart marks our course). She named Mimi's salads, I named Zaxby's wings. On the next lap she called out steaks, and I mentioned Snickers Bars. On the next, I was wishing for Chick-fil-a, and she was mentioning peanut butter ice-cream. By the time we'd finished swimming, me and my taste-buds were missing home.
It is Sunday now, and I am still not done counting the cost of coming here. Ease, and convenient access to all my needs and wants are no longer guaranteed. I can't say for sure what I miss the most because none of it is close at hand any longer.
I know that once I can focus on my job in Ukarumpa, my mind's eye will once again look forward instead of backward. For now though, my thoughts are tied most decidedly on a large Papa John's pizza, or maybe a spicy tuna roll from Sushi Blues, or maybe something from the Ertel's little fridge... Oh convenience, how I miss thee!
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