Big Changes

I apologize to the handful of you that regularly read my blog for slacking off the last couple of weeks. The truth is not much has been going on and at the same time big changes are around the corner. An explanation for the first part of that statement is that day to day life has been pretty boring for us. Gearoid is extremely busy at work and has been bringing some of it home. I have been continuing with my Dutch lessons and finishing an online course that will certify me to teach English. We spend the weekends doing what we would do in the States- laundry, grocery shopping, sleeping in, and too much television watching. On Sundays I also procrastinate to the very last hour to do my Dutch homework. The only “new” thing I have experienced has been attending a couple of Dutch birthday parties in which I promptly received a cup of tea and a piece of cake, handed my phone with Angry birds on it over to an eager 6 year old, and sat awkwardly in a semi-circle of a Dutch speakers who occasionally and kindly asked me a question in English. There have been no day trips or weekend trips outside of Nijmegen. The biggest excitement happening right now in our day to day lives is that Spring is teasing us with glimpses of the sun, crocuses, and a couple of days with temperatures tipping over 60 degrees.

 

That being said, big adventures are coming. Gearoid and I are moving back to Sierra Leone in April for seven months. We will be moving back to the very same town of Makeni that we lived in 3 years ago. Gearoid has been planning to go for a year now to continue his research. I just agreed to go with him two weeks ago. I have been fighting following him back to Africa. I really enjoyed my experience living there in 2008 but it was difficult. Not only the living conditions- no running water or electricity- but the emotional and mental toll it takes on you to see how difficult daily life is and the constant realness in your face every day at every moment. I could deal with the camping like atmosphere again but wasn’t up to seeing abject poverty and starving children and animals each day. However, my options although limitless were also limited. I’m really full of paradoxes!

Gearoid was extremely supportive that I do what I want and what would make me happy. If I had more imagination, time, and means I would have taken him up on that offer. However, I limited myself to the options of staying in the Netherlands by myself, moving back into a parent’s spare room, or following Gearoid. A couple of job interviews in the Netherlands (they ultimately didn’t lead to anything but more interview experience) tempted me to remain here by myself.  Long story short and after months of telling people I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, I chose the one option that I knew in my heart that I would choose all along- Africa. Ultimately I will be more productive there while doing the type of work I enjoy and I will get to see friends that I thought I would never see again.

Funny enough, I now have less than a month to deconstruct everything that I have built up the last year. I’m finished with Dutch classes on April 5^th and have bought some books to continue my studies while overseas. Realistically, we’ll see if my best intentions are carried out. We have to pack up our apartment and move everything to storage, cancel memberships and extract ourselves from commitments we’ve developed for ourselves, say goodbye to new friendships, and deal with a whole new slew of bureaucracies- changing our address, contacting immigration, getting visas, making doctor appointments, and more headache inducing activities.

We’re leaving in 3 weeks and I hope to continue my blog while there. But please know that if my blog is late while in Sierra Leone, it won’t be due to lack of subject matter. It will be because the internet is too slow or not working.  Just a hint of what my life in Sierra Leone will be like.