Resiliency

Slowly we are catching our breath here and finding a pace and a set of routines that seem to work for now. I am impressed with the kid's ability to adapt- they have hit the ground running at school, have been to three birthday parties, have declared mango their favorite new food, are slowly learning kiswahili words and are able to talk about the different cultural practices here. Lisa is a champion as always. Her resiliency is fantastic - she's mastered shopping for produce and staples (4 different stores), driving in a place that makes Boston driving seem like child's play, staying home with Anderson all day and doing all this while I leave for a week after just arriving.

It feels good to be here. This was the right decision. This week I was able to attend a national chimpanzee conservation planning workshop is Dar es Salaam then hop down to Lusaka Zambia for other meetings and be home by 8pm Friday night. The response I get when I say I am living in Tanzania is so much warmer and positive than when I previously said Colorado. Folks I work with believe in being here to show a commitment to place and purpose. And while we are developing a routine, I realize we are still fresh off the boat have many things to learn and many things to get wrong and right. But I am assured that we will adapt and figure this out. We are more resilient than we give ourselves credit for.