Watch the Walk

  The stack "So you'll get there, and you'll see a veranda, and a stool or chair in the corner. Put your passport on the stool." I'm currently waiting on the bigger island for a flight to mainland Africa, but in these times we live in a negative Covid test is required before boarding that flight. That type of testing isn't available on my island, and same-day testing isn't available even here on the bigger island, so I had to come three days ahead of time to get tested. At 7am I went to the testing site, where they'd taken over a malaria project's compound to handle Covid testing for travelers. Sure enough, there was a veranda, a few chairs, and one stool in the corner with two passports on it.  I put my passport on the stack. More people came, more passports were added to the stack. Eventually someone showed up for work and took the stack inside, but more passports were quickly added to the stool. "Thrilled" to travel  Since I was sittin...

We often say that island life is more chill and easy-going than life back in the US. But there are times when it seems like the entire place is holding their collective breath, waiting for a real or metaphorical storm to pass. It depends on the time, but typically it's one of two things: A cyclone is coming. or  Political problems are anticipated.  It's interesting to note that the things we do to prepare are pretty similar: we stock up on phone credit, make sure we've got supplies for a few days of staying home, and pay attention to reports of what's going on. This time it was politics that caused the concern. The rotation of political power between islands has been disrupted and a significant date was approaching. Neighbors and friends were on high alert, encouraging caution in going out, keeping a good amount of supplies at home, and telling us to be careful. The significant date came and went... there were some days with extra military presence, quieter mornings as ...