The New Normal - Are we crazy?

"You're moving to Casablanca?"  "Are you crazy?"  More than a few people asked us this question and others like it when we announced our plans to move to Africa.

In fact, the first week we were in Morocco I kept asking myself "What am I doing here?"  I got a stomach bug almost immediately, which lasted for five days.  It's probably the sickest I've been in years and I began to doubt if I would ever shake it.  I was meeting tons of new people, but the last thing I felt like doing was socializing.  I wondered what my colleagues thought about this old woman who sat in the back of the room, looking green.  It was an interesting indoctrination to life in Casablanca, but thankfully things are much improved.

We've been in Africa for more than eight weeks now and the time is flying by.  We're living in a different country, in a strange city, in an apartment (not a house), and on a noisy street (not in a quiet suburb).  I have a new job, at a new school, working with lower school students (not middle school, like I'm used to).  We are adjusting to a world with unusual smells, sights and sounds.  We are dealing with life without a car, life without a dog, and life without Peter Pan peanut butter!  Communication is a constant challenge, as is grocery shopping, getting a hair appointment, or even crossing the street.  I take my life in my own hands every time I get into a car or the school bus, and when I elect to eat a piece of fruit without first peeling it.  We have attended services at two churches, both of which have different musical and preaching styles than we are used to. I miss my sons, my parents, my dogs, my Canterbury colleagues, and ORPC.  

While these may sound like complaints, they are really quite the opposite. Richard and I are stretching like we never have before.  We are meeting new people every day, and these people are becoming our friends.  We are going new places and seeing amazing sights.  We are experiencing a new culture, with different holidays, and foreign traditions.  Yes, there are things we miss terribly, but there are also constant surprises around every corner, and life is anything but dull. 

So, are we crazy?  Well, maybe.  But, here we are in Morocco, taking chances and growing by leaps and bounds.  We're enjoying our lives and meeting the challenge of living here. In the midst of it all, we are learning new things and making discoveries about ourselves in the process.