I say to Callum as we leave our weekly family dinner, “Say good bye to Pop,” and he hides his face in my leg. It’s too hard. A day later, his craft cat mask is ruined thanks to a brotherly dispute, and he agrees it’s time for it to go […]
I recently wrote about the things apart from family and friends which we will miss about Australia. Here are some non-relationship things we’re looking forward to about Tanzania: Having happier skin. Adelaide really dries out your skin! The little boys pick their noses incessantly because they feel so dry. My […]
With the countdown to our return to Tanzania well and truly on, our headspace is shifting. Arthur and I are speaking Swahili to each other again; the little boys are asking, “can we make X food in Tanzania, or is that just an Australian thing?” We are longing more acutely […]
We knew our sense of not belonging in Australia would increase with each home assignment, and after almost 7 years in Tanzania, we are definitely feeling it. One big change is that people in Adelaide don’t see us as “one of them” anymore. We are outsiders. We no longer have […]
I am floating on my back in the ocean. (You can tell this is a dream, because in real life I’m a pretty poor swimmer.) I close my eyes for a few minutes, and when I wake up, the current has carried me somewhere I do not recognise. The shore […]
We are back in Australia physically, and trying to drag our heads and hearts here too. When we got into Adelaide airport, our Elliot started singing Australian folk songs and saying, ‘G’day mate’ to people. They think it’s weird; he’s reaching for the little he knows of Australia. Callum was […]
8 years ago when I was studying biblical Hebrew, we read Psalm 46, famous for “Be still and know that I am God” but it was verse 2-3 that I remember so vividly: though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters […]
