I’m in Albufeira, mixing a family visit in with my desire for a silent retreat. A big apartment with ocean view and a pool, I can’t ask for much more.

I’ve been to Albufeira a few times before, but now that I have no travel companion distracting me, my attention focuses on the sharp dominance of British tourists. Pasty white skin (often visible in too great a volume) that doesn’t seem to ever tan. “You can pay in pounds” signs by the cigarette stand. Beer at 8:35 in the morning. An entire street of restaurants showing the game.

I keep looking for local life. Where do people live among all these hotels, where do they shop, where do they eat, where do they go to the doctor, how do they get around town, where do they do their laundry?

Well, someone is ready for their first vacation in 14 months.

Good start of the day

First time making jollof, and I can tell you this much: what criminal ever thought of serving rice unseasoned?

If I had been born a boy, my full name today would have been Stevie Wonder Waleson Geene. I don’t know what’s worse: that alternate universe, or the fact that I was today years old when I fully grasped the artistic brilliance of the singer himself.

Hanging out with Vanessa could not have been easier and more fun. Joining the Omek community has given me access to such beautiful, brilliant people from all over Africa. What a fitting wallpaper for the time stamp.