2015—It’s A Wrap!!!

This past year has probably been the most eventful of all in terms of new experiences.  I started a new job in a new country, but more importantly, I traveled to Hong Kong, Bangkok, Phuket, Taipei, Manama, Limassol, Rome, and Milan.  An entry in The Expat Diaries is coming very soon.

You hope that each year brings more experience, understanding and wisdom.  For me, it also brings a bit more patience.  I have learned to accept that certain things take time and that one must be in a particular place (mentally, spiritually, and emotionally) in order for said things to happen.  You have to be able to reflect and that has become valuable over the past five years.  Living in Riyadh forces a woman to learn patience, and because things move so slowly over here, there is time to think certain things through.

I am grateful for 2015 because it was a year of unexpected bonuses.  I have never traveled as much as I did this calendar year, and all I want to do now is more of the same.  This world is a beautiful, wonderful place and there is simply so much to see.  Even though there’s been continuous terrorist fuckery, I am not afraid to get my ass on a plane and go somewhere.  As I said in my most recent post, life is meant for living…and for me, that means traveling anywhere and everywhere I can.

A definite bonus was finally meeting the head of Black Girl Nerds and all-around boss chick Jamie Broadnax.  We had lunch this summer while I was stateside and I am superstar happy that we got to connect.

As far as my new (and definitely temporary) life in the Middle East, it definitely has its challenging aspects.  But I love the kids I work with and being around them keeps me on my toes…and young at heart.  They also have a lot to teach me and I learn as much from them as they do me.  Their world as they live it is not nearly as black and white as we have been conditioned to see it.  I have been surprised several times when I’ve been shown their perspectives.

What’s in store for 2016?  Who knows?  I quit trying to plan my life in detail a few years back because I’ve usually been dead-ass wrong in my planning and predictions.  I am learning to take life as it comes and not worry about the future, as nothing’s promised.

I do know this:  I’m going back to Italy, and I’m going back home for the summer.  And I’m going to publish books one and two in the Nightingales series and at least draft book 3.  This much I know.  Anything else is a bonus. 

**raises a glass of white sangria**  Happy New Year, Dark Dilettantes!  See you on the flip!