Hard to believe that on this day one year ago, Dan and I boarded a plane to Accra, leaving our US life behind for awhile. We tried to check our expectations with our bags and be as openminded about this two year experience as possible. In honor of our halfway point on this adventure, I thought I'd do MY recap of the year.
I would say the first 60 to 90 days was a bumpy landing for me. Getting used to day to day life here and adjusting to the idea that this is home for the next two years definitely took some time. Learning where you are going without street names or knowledgeable drivers was a challenge, along with food expectations/grocery shopping, unforeseen circumstances with Dan's office, etc. We found an apartment that we liked and picked out some items to furnish it which made it start to feel like home here.
Then came the waiting game for our air and sea freight to arrive. It's true that when you live without your stuff for 1-3 months, you realize how little of it you actually "need". That said, you do feel more complete when you get it back because it's the stuff that feels like home. Football season and trash talk with friends back in the US made the transition a bit easier, although I admit it was difficult to adjust to working from home full time and not having as much interaction with people as I used to. I thought I had done a pretty good job of adjusting, but apparently hadn't portrayed those feelings outwardly enough. Dan actually thought I wanted to ditch him and this experience and go home... a thought that never once crossed my mind. I suppose it just took me a bit longer to get comfortable here when I didn't really have a routine that required I change out of yoga pants more than once every two days. I've actually grown a fondness for needing to physically go pay for internet and power credit as it gives me a reason to get out and about a bit...even if I do still go in yoga pants. Hey, there are some perks to working from home! Lululemon, all day; every day.
Then we came back from Christmas to have three months in Mozambique. I still maintain that the experience there was worth having. The food was good, the wine was better, and the infrastructure was solid. But living in a hotel certainly took it's toll and we didn't really have any friends. The multiple hotel issues took its toll but we honed the ability to laugh things off. It says something for our marriage that we literally spent every moment that Dan wasn't at the office together. We didn't run out of dinner conversation or want to punch each other in the face (well I shouldn't speak for Dan haha), so I consider that a victory. Hotel-living was not my favorite and I don't think I'll be quick to sign up for it again for that length of time.
Then we were back in Accra and these last 5 months have FLOWN by. Lots of travel, visiting with our parents and just getting back into the swing of everyday life here... it's been really nice. Neither of us can believe it's already been a year which I suppose is a good problem. Football is on the horizon again and, with that, comes the holidays with family and friends. I'm certain the remainder of the year will continue to be a blur and, before we know it, it will be 2016.
I think we would both agree that this experience has been more rewarding than we could have imagined. Seeing other parts of the world and making friends with people who are going through the same challenges has certainly made it an enjoyable year. We wrapped up our first year with friends, going out on Thursday and Friday nights and having people over for dinner last night. All in all, we are grateful for everything that has gone into this, and how we have grown both individually and together over the last year.
Thank you for putting up with my blog posts for a year now and coming along for this roller coaster of life abroad. On to Year 2!
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