Clarity

January has been a good month for us. Coming back from a three week winter break was just what the doctor ordered. Many of our new friends told us this would happen as we approached the six month mark. There is a definite sense of calm for our family now. The break gave us time to reconnect with ourselves, each other, our family (my sister) and our friends (old and new). Going back to work and embracing a New Year felt really good, not just for us, but for the kids too. Everyone is settled and established with school and home routines during the week and the weekends feel more leisurely now. Sure, we have errands to run and groceries to buy, but we also know how to get to these places by car and by public transport. We know how to tackle the check out line at Tesco or Kaizer (put everything right back in the cart after its been scanned and bag it when you load the trunk!), we know how to shop for shoes (which I seemed to do a lot of for the kids this Fall and Winter), we know how to walk a different way to school to avoid the killer dog (see previous post), we know how to order and receive American dollars to pay our rent (thank you English-speaking bank manager), we know where to find the English movie theater and how to drive there, we know where to take the kids to play when its too cold to be outside for long (lots of indoor fun options in the city) and we know where to find peanut butter, agave nectar, tortillas, fresh chicken, Rice Krispy cereal, American mayo, frozen spinach, fresh bread.... the list goes on.

There are moments like this week, when the sun is shining brightly and the city radiates beneath its light. A clear, gorgeous day that brings clarity to the reason(s) we moved overseas. Moments when we pinch ourselves (again) and think, WOW! We live here! It's wonderful to be able to say: hey! today is a gorgeous day! let's go HERE and enjoy the views and sunshine before heading to a friend's house for good conversation, good dinner, good times! Yes, we are beginning to know what it feels like to have good friends here, knowing it may not be the same as the friends we've left behind, but the potential is there to be just as good as new friendships evolve and grow. We need these moments to reaffirm that moving to Budapest was and is a good decision. Expanding our horizons as we travel and learn about ourselves as individuals, as a family and (certainly!) as professionals is an incredible gift. Perhaps we were experiencing a mid-life crisis with the day-to-day rituals of our life in Oregon. We don't know. Whatever you want to call it, we really believe it to be GOOD and HEALTHY and CATHARTIC for the life we are experiencing NOW. As Winifred Holtby said, "The things that one most wants to do are the things that are probably most worth doing." Indeed.