Expat Disconnect

I have felt this way sometimes, but today I have had a really hard time shaking it off.  Today was one of those days that it is kinda hard to live on a compound.  I told myself in the beginning that it would be like living in an apartment complex, but that just isn't true.  When you live in a developing country and there is really no where else to go and "shoot the breeze"....you really get to know some of  your neighbors.....I mean really really get to know them...and not always in a good way.  Compound living is interesting in the way you meet people you may not normally meet or socialize with people who you may have otherwise never socialized with.  Don't get me wrong, I have some really nice friends here....great friends, actually. Those are the ones I really do want to know well.   I am talking about the other compound dwellers who can really "rain on your parade".  You know the type don't you?  The ones who are always the voice of "gloom and doom", and just by talking to them they can pull you right down along with them?  I guess there are people like that everywhere....but at least I could escape them if I wanted to in the U.S. ...a trip to the mall, ice cream at Marble Slab, a trip to Spec's, or hop in my car and drive my own self somewhere without everyone knowing I was "leaving the compound".

Usually, if I feel like that here, I can talk to Guy...but he is gone for a week in Port Harcourt.  Or, just call my mom and talk for a while....but she is in the hospital waiting to get discharged.  I didn't see my friend from Germany on Skype, and I feel like I am letting some of my good friends back in the States down because I can never find the right time to call...I guess this is what the "expat disconnect" feels like.  I know it'll turn around again soon...but for a little bit today, I was in a funk.  That is until I saw this...

Today, she was really my" sunshine on a cloudy day!"( Yes, even with all the screaming....she can make me laugh 'til my belly hurts!) And of course, Jeremy and I are "stuck together like a stamp to a letter!"  There was no way I could watch her dance or look at him and not feel happy.:)  Thank God for the free spirits of kids; they are the ultimate cure for my "expat disconnect".:)