Our New Home

Today was exciting for all of us as we went to see our new home. It is one more link in the chain of preparation before we return to Dodoma, Tanzania in February next year and settle here. 

As it is not on the main MAF compound, next to the hangar and we don't currently have transportation it wasn't practical that we stay there for this short visit ... plus the fact that is currently a short term couple living there! But today as part of our 'look-see' week here we had a chance to go and have a look so that we will be better prepared to pack, knowing more what we need to bring back with us in just a few months time.

Below is a photograph of us outside the front door ... along with Abigail's new best friend, Aleah!

I love making a 'house' into a 'home', so this part of the trip was important to me. We were measuring up the rooms, the windows (for curtains) looking at the furniture and deciding what we wanted where and what would be useful to get in the States or the UK beforehand!

It sounds a bit old fashioned being a 'home-maker' and loving it but practically, for our family to feel the most settled the most quickly, it will be really important that the house feels comfortable for both the family and for guests visiting too.

If the girls don't feel comfortable in this house really quickly after we arrive, life will be a lot tougher on all of us. Within a different culture, when they're so little and can't really comprehend everything that's going on very easily, having somewhere safe to come back to is really important. 

So while I hope to get involved in projects of my own within the community during our time in Tanzania, my first and most important priority (even if it takes preference over other things) will not only be getting the house in order ... but more than that, feeling familiar and like home. Today I had the chance to start working out more practically just how I can do that and I'm already getting quite excited about the possibilities!