Carrie Speaks

Well we’ve been here just about a month now. It is high time I made an addition to this Blog that I so enthusiastically set up the week before we left the United States.

How can one know what to imagine about a place so far from home.

Who could have known that while I was worried about the comforts we would sacrifice, I should have worried about becoming spoiled, being too comfortable.

I worried that I might not know how to manage a classroom of my own again, but instead should have worried that I would be frustrated at having too few students with whom to work.

I worried that it would be too darn hot (it is!) but instead I should have been concerned that I would get sick form the air conditioning that is ever present.

I was excited that Mark and I would be able to run our school so independently, but I should have been concerned that our boss was too far removed to follow through on helping make necessary decisions about the place.

I was worried about the dry and the dust, instead I am amazed at the variety and beauty of plant life.

I wondered how I would engage the local people here due to language barriers, now I wonder how to get away from the nice people who speak English as a Second language.

Nothing like I imagined, worried or wondered about.

A woman said to me yesterday, “it’s a bit like being on holiday all the time”. At so many levels she is absolutely right and that was the furthest thing from my imagination, wonderings and worries.

I still worry about the snakes and the things that bite Zachary…I am still a mother.

Speaking of which, the most wonderful part of this “holiday” experience is being able to spend meaningful, relaxed time with my family. Each afternoon I like nothing better than to hang out with the “boys”. First, to rest with Mark, to talk over the day, and to share our wonderings about this place. Then, when Zachary wakes; to play on the porch in the shade, to build with blocks, to have an “appetizer” (Zachary’s word) are my next endeavors. A bit later we go for a swim, all of us, the family. What better way to while away the afternoon. Suddenly the sun is going down and we are settling in for dinner, a bath, and a little more play. Sigh. I never had it this good in New York.
And yet…..