In 2014, I wrote 3 goals in my bedside writing book:
1 we live in a quirky house
2 with a beautiful view
3 my children play out freely
Three months later, I accepted a teaching job at an international school in Arusha, Tanzania.
We arrived in August around midnight and were driven from the airport to campus in one of the school’s minibuses. We sat down at the kitchen table, in our unusual concrete-floored house, eating the jam and bread they’d left out for us. I remember how still, quiet and starry the night was, and how excited we were about our adventure.
The next morning, our children, aged 6 and 8, quickly made new friends and scampered off exploring the vast campus, surrounded by a coffee plantation. Our porch was planted with papaya trees and spiky aloe vera plants. We were overlooked by the majestic Mount Meru volcano, which we climbed on a three-day family trek towards the end of our stay. This was a few months after I’d summited Mount Kilimanjaro.
The teachers coordinated clubs on Wednesday and Friday afternoons, one of mine was a running one and another I titled, “Life Coaching For Kids”. Paul got involved with many projects inside and outside of the school, including training staff in First Aid and writing and filming about poaching, when he wasn’t called away to war zones for work.
My blog was called “No Regrets”, Nanny Gill is helping me turn it into a book. She came to visit us too.
