The times they are a-changin’
The past year has been both good and bad, which meant I was living in interesting times over the past 12 months. If you’re following me on Facebook, you might have noticed it already, but Rouzeh and I have broken up this week.
On several levels, it’s been a quite rocky year, while at the same time it’s also been a very good learning experience, primarily towards knowing myself.
Interestingly, as a side note, though the Greek aphorism γνῶθι σεαυτόν (know thyself) is more than well known, not in the least for a slightly mangled version showing up above the Oracle’s door in the Matrix trilogy, the source of this evergreen isn’t certain, attributed to, amongst others, Pythagoras and Socrates.
Of course, there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch, that is, everything comes at a price, or perhaps a compromise, but after a weekend of some heavy drinking thinking, I decided that I should accept this challenge shifting into a direction which sees Rouzeh and myself not be partners.
Indeed, this comes about a year after Betsy and I broke up, making this, for statistics lovers, my shortest, though not unlikely most intense, relationship.
It does mean that my plans for the rest of the year are likely to change. Although my contract here in Chiang Mai runs until September, I wouldn’t have been surprised if my work was going to be less than full time from August onwards, if not earlier. In July, we’re set to do testing on the new OVCsupport.net, but the last two weeks have already been very quiet, while I’m waiting for some inputs and updates.
This meant I was entertaining the possibility of being able to move back to South Africa perhaps as early as July. Now, however, that’s very unlikely. Not in the least because I also just moved into a new place, literally a stone’s throw away from my old pad, but a proper townhouse, with two floors, but no furniture. So I’m very likely to stay here ‘as long as possible’.
Chiang Mai is a good place to live and now, with a proper house to live in, I can really relax. Well, as soon as I have a proper bed, couch and desk… which I should be getting on loan from HDN, as no one is in the office now anyway (because the organization is folding).
I do have the obligation to be in Holland in early October, as my mom already last year had me promise I’d attend her 65th this year. And, also, I might lose my tickets to Europe and on to South Africa if I don’t travel before the end of September, due to USAID (the funder of the OVCsupport.net revamp) budget restrictions.
Just trying to do my best… one night at a time…