It is almost 1AM, and I am sure that I am going to be sick day after tomorrow. This is entirely my fault, and given the reason for my inevitable fall into the depths of exhaustion and illness, I wouldn’t have it any other way. That reason is, of course, that life is too full of love, wonder and adventure to sleep. And not sleeping (for any reason) does have a history of making me ill.

I just got in from a four hour “tea” with three wonderful new friends. This followed a four-hour one-on-one lesson making for a total of 8 hours of intense concentration, and eight hours of new information and fresh conversations. The second four hours were spent in a world where no one language was understood by the whole group, and thus, I spend most of the night following tones of Spanish voices, with the occasional Arabic synopses to keep me in the loop. Nonetheless, I have a very good sense of the people I was with, and they are all great!

In a very uncharacteristic move, I did not freak out and leave in order to be back before 10, but I stayed until midnight. When we finally finished our lemon cake and stepped outside, the full moon was overhead was nearly as bright as the laughter in our eyes. The decorative lights on the palm trees of the main square were no match for either.

I was worried that I would be in trouble with my host family, but the anxieties that I had suppressed all evening turned out to be for nothing. Alhumdu lilleh!

I am going to walk up a mountain tomorrow and I have to be up at 5 for my ride. I sure hope I can hold it together. In the meantime, I am hoping my dreams will take me flying up through the fast moving coastal clouds and to the moon, where I might rest for at least a few hours before morning.