No Longer the Newbies

The missionary community is one that is constantly changing. 

One of the great things about our lifestyle is the opportunity to meet so many people from different walks of life and learn from them. One of the sacrifices of our lifestyle is not the constant round of hello's ... but all the goodbye's that are inevitable too.

This week as a family, we lost our status as the 'newbies' in Dodoma after only two months, even though we're still in the transition and settling-in stage ourselves! We had the new family round to our house for dinner this evening ... our first official MAF hospitality duty. (Our home is roughly in the centre of this photo, four silver roofs, ours is second from the top)

Transition affects people in different ways. I've sat through many classes, learning about what to expect and how to cope with it. I know that taking in all the new stuff, culture, language, food, daily rhythm is a lot to get to grips with. I know that it can take months to fully adjust. I know that some people can be extra clumsy, some people over commit themselves and then crash ... and others like me and my hubby, and the family that arrived last week, just feel constantly tired as the brain tries to assimilate everything into the new normal!

Transition is not a bad thing, it's just a reality for us for the time being. No longer being the newbies is not a bad thing either. It means that as a family we're progressing and getting one step closer to the 'new normal'. It means that sometime in the next few months it'll all feel so much like home that everything that went before will be a distant but happy memory!