just laura

I’ve been thinking maybe I should change this from “JustLaura” to “JustBabies.” I guess once you’re 30 everyone and their sister are at the age that makes having babies seem like the thing to do. Which leads me to… another exciting baby announcement. My old friend Laura from middle school is going to have a little boy in October! Guess that means I’ve got the perfect excuse for another trip to NYC!

Dwell in possibility…
–Emily Dickinson.

The beautiful thing about life is that there’s never any shortage of possibilties for the future. Today I arrived home in Austin after one and a half years on the road. The homecoming was great… the first two people I saw at the airport were my sister in law Stef holding my baby nephew Gus, and Gus smiling a giant smile and holding a “Welcome Home Aunt Laura” sign. It was pretty fantastic and I was thrilled to finally meet him. Charlie, Mom, and Dad all arrived shortly thereafter and there were lots of hugs and a fun dinner catching up. Of course the conversation turned to my plans for the future. Am I finally going to move back to Austin? I don’t have answers for the future, but I am prepared to dwell in the many possiblities. It seems to me, the more I travel and the more I learn, the more possibilities there are that I’d never even considered before. Perhaps I’ll start looking into grad school. I will most probably look for work in Seattle. Maybe move back to Austin. Maybe look for work in Africa. I know everyone wants answers about the future, but I’m afriad right now I only have questions and endless possibilities.

Tonight was a slumber party with Charlie and Stef (and Gus, though he goes to bed around 7:45pm). We ate pizza and talked and shared iPod music (yay!). We also watched a movie, Blood Diamond, that I’d been hearing about on the road for a long time. I thought it was a pretty decent movie, and was pretty happy/impressed to finally see the topics of dirty diamonds and child soldiers in the mainstream media. Was also glad to see Sierra Leone’s bloody civil war in the media. It leaves me feeling a bit sad to think most Americans probably didn’t even know about Sierra Leone before this movie. And it reminds me that the average American probably doesn’t know much about similar wars that are currently being fought across Africa. Somalia is still in a state of conflict. Sudan is still in a long, 40+ yr civil war (fueled by both religion and natural resources). Congo is still in a state of conflict. Nigeria, Egypt, and countless other African countries still have conflict in the streets when it comes time for elections. Guinea is unstable and on the verge of civil war. Zimbabwe seems to be on the verge of major change. Northern Uganda still has active rebel forces and a bloody civil war on their hands.

Speaking of Uganda, there’s another great movie to recommend: Invisible Children is about child soldiers in Uganda.

And if one movie about Uganda isn’t enough, you can check out last year’s Last King of Scotland about the evil Idi Amin.

Other relatively recent movies about Africa I’d also recommend:

Hotel Rwanda – 1994 Rwanda genocide
Tsotsi – 19 yr old thug from Soweto, South Africa
The Constant Gardner – drug trials in Kenya.

And if you’re reader instead of a movie watcher, I’ve got tons of Africa books to recommend. Perhaps that’ll have to be a separate blog entry… too many good ones to put them here at the bottom of a page at 2am.

I’ll say goodnight now and say thanks to the film makers (and Leonardo) for putting out a movie on such important topics. I think I like the current trend to produce African drama movies that serve to inform/education (and ideally inspire change). Thanks guys. Keep up the good work!

I’m in Chicago this week, staying with Ben (former coworker from Seattle) and hanging out with Suzan (college friend from Austin and blushing bride to be). It’s been busy and fun and cold and windy… what happened to summer? I will write and post pics later when I get a chance to catch my breath. For now know that my fingernails are shiny pink and manicured and that we’re busy doing lots of girly wedding stuff this week. Oh, and I’m learning more than I ever imagined about Jewish weddings, sheets, Jewish cleansing spas, and so much more. Yay Jews!