“There were times when I was between 20 and 27 – before I joined Fleetwood Mac – that my dad would say, ‘How long are you going to do this? You have no money, you’re not happy, you work constantly,…you don’t have any friends, why are you doing this?’ And I would just say, ‘Because it’s just what I came here to do.'” – Stevie Nicks

Yesterday was my one-month anniversary (monniversary? mensiversary?) in Dakar, and I spent most of the day crying. But that was before I realized what day it was. At about 6pm it dawned on me that I arrived on February 15 and it was now March 15, so I took a moment to be proud of myself before returning to weepiness.

This morning I was scrolling through Instagram (where I finally started posting photos) and saw this quote on @CarolineCala‘s feed. It was exactly what I needed.

I’m by turns discouraged, lonely, bored, frustrated, overwhelmed, disconnected, hungry, nauseous, and unsure of myself here, not to mention convinced that my hair – which I am hoping to grow out as quickly as possible and which I am thus loath to trim into shape – makes me look like a socially untouchable muppet. But I’m not leaving til I finish what I started.

(PS It’s not nearly as bad as that sounds. I am in a slump right now but there have also been many moments of pure joy, confidence, excitement, chattiness, connection, and happy gorging.)

(PPS Will share photos from my trip when I figure out how to connect an Android to a Mac to upload them.)