Twice in the last 7 years I've consolidated all our belongings to a few suitcases. One time we were a family of four. The first time, we had a baby (and so much baby stuff). At one point we were living as a family out of 2 hotel rooms (no kitchen) for 70 days. Another … Continue reading What it’s like to downsize to a few suitcases
When you live, well, not, in the USA, celebrating Thanksgiving can be awkward and downright depressing. The first Thanksgiving abroad is the worst: you haven't adopted new traditions yet and the old ones just don't work. But most people try to force it anyway. The only way around this is to have a big neighbor potluck on … Continue reading Thanksgiving in the middle east
The following blog post was written in 2011, right after we left the USA and moved to our new home in the middle east. I found it in our old family blog. The words could have been written one month ago, as we left the country we called home. This is the part of our … Continue reading Saying good-bye
These are the actual steps we followed to get internet in our building. Approximate wait times in parenthesis: 1. Get an address ( 1.5 weeks from moving in) 2. Take passport, proof of employment, cash, and address to internet main office (there is only 1) and sign up (3-4 trips required to identify actual building … Continue reading How to get internet in the desert
"One day, we will do the harder thing and move home." I said that for six years. The ironic thing is that "home" could be eight or nine different places for us. But when I said this, I meant moving to the United States. Confession: Life as a privileged minority in a booming economy is … Continue reading When moving “home” is the harder thing
A real test of your belief system is living side-by-side with another. A few close mom-friends, who were practicing Muslims, had better Christian theology than me. This is how I learned that Islam and Christianity have several overlapping themes. Things I always thought I believed. But when I witnessed these sincere women REALLY living out these … Continue reading Islam made me a better Christian
A friend helped me realize before I left the middle east that I was returning to America FREE. Or, at least, much more free than before. Before, six years ago, I was such a different person. So imprisoned by my debt, my baggage, and my scars. Dragging all that around was just so...ugh. It's clear … Continue reading Freedom
I cannot measure how much stuff we threw away as part of leaving the middle east. There are several reasons for this. One of which is that I did not want to know. We threw away good stuff. Re-usable stuff. Junk stuff. Worn-out stuff. Favorite stuff. Stuff I'd already tried to sell and unload on … Continue reading Phases of total liquidation
We leave in 5 days. My husband and I feel it now: the uncertainty...the weight of ending and starting again. I'm surprised by how different this leaving is from the last time we left. Six years ago we left the USA for the middle east. We were leaving, but certain to return (at least to … Continue reading This time is different
My family has lived in the same country in the middle east for the last 6 years. For my 2 boys, that is their whole lives. This country made me a mother. Made me a better wife. Stripped me down to the bare bones of my past and then let me grow in the unlimited … Continue reading Funneling the Chaos
