Last Entry: Re-Entry

heading off to the Zanzibar airport

I’d intended to finish up the blog right after we got back to the US, but it’s not until now—on a snowy day five months later—that I’m finally getting around to it. 

We flew from Zanzibar on July 8, stopped for 4 days at our stopover in Amsterdam (where we visited the Anne Frank house and watched the final World Cup match on TV with other families at a neighborhood pub), and we arrived home to Tacoma on July 13.  On July 19, Brady and I left the boys with Brady's parents to go to a conference on academic writing in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, stopping for a week in France, and getting home for good on August 2.  Before school started, we enjoyed the tail end of a gorgeous Pacific Northwest summer--arising to cool, sunny mornings; picking blueberries in our favorite places; running with friends in the woods of Point Defiance Park.  Having seen much more of the world now, we know (not that there was any real doubt) that our home is among the loveliest places in the world. 

home sweet home

People have asked us what it’s like to be back home.  And that’s a tough question to answer.  When we were packing up to leave Zanzibar, I wrote twelve "top priority" blog entries in quick succession about things I wanted to capture before they faded from our consciousness.  In contrast, being at home feels like nothing to write home about.

Plus, we’ve been so busy. And I think that’s really the biggest day-to-day difference that we've all noticed.  In Zanzibar, we were teaching and going to school and exercising and doing things with friends, just like we do at home, but the predominant feeling we had was of having time (even perhaps too much time).  Back home, we’re busy; there’s more of everything—more scheduled activities, more homework, more house to clean and maintain, more choices to make at the grocery store, more new technology to learn to use.  And all of these things—wonderful though they are—take time. 

Now on the brink of the new year, we’re taking stock.

family dressed in Netherlands orange

In Zanzibar, we saw how much we have in the US and how little we really need. In Amsterdam, we saw how efficiently people can use bicycles as everyday transportation.  In France, Brady and I shared evening meals with people who took the time at the end of a busy day to enjoy a slow meal together.  In Tel Aviv, Brady and I saw hundreds of people outdoors, enjoying public outdoor exercise facilities and walking paths.

at a cafe in Normandy

In 2011, we want to take some of the best from what we’ve seen and exper-
ienced over the past year.  Thanks for reading our blog and supporting us while we were gone, especially during the holidays.  We hope to see you in the coming year!