A year of love

December 31, 2015 - By Dr. Marwa Shumo

Happy New Year

May we all have a vision now and then

Of a world where every neighbor is a friend

Happy New Year

May we all have our hopes, our will to try

(ABBA – Happy New Year)

Marwa did promise to post again next year and here I am honouring my promise and blogging at an early hour of 01.01.2016.

Marwa passed by a young camel rider at an early morning of the last day of the past year. Marwa thinks that being in Kenya and coming across such interactions teaches her new things about life in general. Seeing a young man content and determined to reach his final destination even on the back of a camel is a lesson in contentment, she starts counting lots of the blessings she grew up to think that they were her birth rights. She, therefore learnt to tolerate situations, challenges and hardships in order to achieve her goals and aspirations.

12470792_10153235639450286_1075443912_o — By hook or by crook, Marwa and the camel rider are both determined to reach their final destinations.

During the last day of 2015, I made sure to have one special last cup of a tea. My choice of selection was Malindi Chai Latte 🙂 Seasoned with cinnamon and topped with whipped cream, the Malindi milk tea was the best way to bid a happy 2015 a very delicious and warm goodbye.If you ever visit Kenya, you have to take time to enjoy the variety of seasoned coffees and teas. After all, this is the region where coffee and tea first came from 🙂

Superb taste.I totally recommend — A tasty way to end the year.

10 minutes before the first hour of the New Year, my landlady knocked on my door and asked me to join her and her kids to go watch the New Year’s fireworks. Seeing the fireworks reminded me of my parents so much, they used to take us to watch the fireworks on the 18^th of November (Oman’s National Day) every year. It reminded me of my sister Mae who took me to watch the London Eye New Year’s fireworks on top of the Millennium Bridge. It also reminded me of my late friend Shanshan and my very good friend Natasha whom I spent with the first New Year eve in Cologne. It also reminded me of my dear friend Nino who invited me for a nice Georgian BBQ by the banks of the river Rhine during the Koelner Lichter’s night in the summer of 2014.I am glad that I made yet another new happy memory this New Year in a completely new place with completely new people whom I shall happily remember in the coming years.

Fireworks 016 live from Kenya :-) — Fireworks 016 live from Kenya 🙂

I did take advantage of the fact that most people at icipe are away on holidays and the campus is quiet and empty. I went basking under the sun during my lunch break and had the chance to adore nature and enjoy its beauty in silence and with lots of peace of mind.