Despite the title to this carefully curated and regularly updated blog, we've just made the move to Warsaw! Poland, not Indiana!
And since the last blog post in December of 2016, Charlie was born in Malawi! And we made a summer, and Christmas trip back to the U.S.! And we took a trip to Zambia to safari at South Luangwa National Park! And Kate took a job at the American School of Warsaw! And took a 17 hour flight with a toddler and a dog! And we just spent 6 weeks back in the U.S. spending time with family and preparing for the next big move!
Maybe more on those in the future? Definitely more exclamation points. In the big picture, it's hard to overstate how much Malawi has changed our life, our family, our future. I had always planned on writing more while we were there, more regularly keeping a journal, taking notes on the day to day interactions and reflections, like a real writer could, would, should. Priorities are made, strategies are shifted, and maybe now I will convince myself that our time in our little corner of SE Africa will best be written about with time and reflection. Four years anywhere, doing anything, is a chapter worth memorializing, and when you have the opportunity to spend it in a place that is exotic for most, fascinating and romantic for many, challenging for some, it's going to be a goal of mine to truly reflect back and get some of those thoughts on paper.
For now, though? We've been in Warsaw for 17 days, the first 10 in a single room in a hotel with a crib at the foot of our bed and a 19 month old who definitely wanted to be up from midnight to 4am most mornings cause, jet lag. Like a little werewolf. See what I did there? That doesn't even acknowledge that our toddler is currently into trying to take bites out of our arms, or legs, or necks, or whatever piece of flesh she can get her toothy little mouth on.
10 days in, we moved into our permanent housing, a lovely third floor flat in Old Wilanow. Lots of changes, plenty of mini-brain meltdowns staring at 6 kinds of cleaning spray for 10 minutes and realizing that google translate will only get you so far. We've, generally, figured out the bus system, taken full advantage of Uber, not gone hungry, totally kicking butt, really.
The easiest thing to say or think is that Warsaw is "a different world" than Lilongwe. Just like that was the easiest thing to think or say about Lilongwe compared to Louisville when we first moved there. But it's not, it's the same world, just different places on the map, and remembering that and keeping the privilege of our travels in context, and putting all of the experiences together while focusing on the now and being in the moment, well, that's the rub, right? We're happy to be here, excited to meet new people, conquer new challenges, raise our daughter, live life, all while missing friends, missing the peace and tranquility of our little spot in Lilongwe. The next chapter.
And since the last blog post in December of 2016, Charlie was born in Malawi! And we made a summer, and Christmas trip back to the U.S.! And we took a trip to Zambia to safari at South Luangwa National Park! And Kate took a job at the American School of Warsaw! And took a 17 hour flight with a toddler and a dog! And we just spent 6 weeks back in the U.S. spending time with family and preparing for the next big move!
Maybe more on those in the future? Definitely more exclamation points. In the big picture, it's hard to overstate how much Malawi has changed our life, our family, our future. I had always planned on writing more while we were there, more regularly keeping a journal, taking notes on the day to day interactions and reflections, like a real writer could, would, should. Priorities are made, strategies are shifted, and maybe now I will convince myself that our time in our little corner of SE Africa will best be written about with time and reflection. Four years anywhere, doing anything, is a chapter worth memorializing, and when you have the opportunity to spend it in a place that is exotic for most, fascinating and romantic for many, challenging for some, it's going to be a goal of mine to truly reflect back and get some of those thoughts on paper.
For now, though? We've been in Warsaw for 17 days, the first 10 in a single room in a hotel with a crib at the foot of our bed and a 19 month old who definitely wanted to be up from midnight to 4am most mornings cause, jet lag. Like a little werewolf. See what I did there? That doesn't even acknowledge that our toddler is currently into trying to take bites out of our arms, or legs, or necks, or whatever piece of flesh she can get her toothy little mouth on.
10 days in, we moved into our permanent housing, a lovely third floor flat in Old Wilanow. Lots of changes, plenty of mini-brain meltdowns staring at 6 kinds of cleaning spray for 10 minutes and realizing that google translate will only get you so far. We've, generally, figured out the bus system, taken full advantage of Uber, not gone hungry, totally kicking butt, really.
The easiest thing to say or think is that Warsaw is "a different world" than Lilongwe. Just like that was the easiest thing to think or say about Lilongwe compared to Louisville when we first moved there. But it's not, it's the same world, just different places on the map, and remembering that and keeping the privilege of our travels in context, and putting all of the experiences together while focusing on the now and being in the moment, well, that's the rub, right? We're happy to be here, excited to meet new people, conquer new challenges, raise our daughter, live life, all while missing friends, missing the peace and tranquility of our little spot in Lilongwe. The next chapter.
