A Brand New Life

This new chapter in my life Has Been an extraordinary adventure and blessing.  Most who are reading this already know that  I got married to my girlfriend Sara in early July of this year and I have become a stepfather to her daughter Maria.  So now that I'm a family man, living and working in a place far from home, never thinking or predicting that here in Dili I would have become a proud husband and father!   Of course, I'm really happy to be in this exciting position in my life right now, so grateful for each day with all the new love and relationships surrounding me, and looking forward to life with my own family.   It feels surreal bit that my life Circumstances have changed so much (for the better) just in the span of one year, from single to married, from riding my bicycle home after work to driving a car to pick up my stepdaughter from school, from living out of the hotel to a nice sized house, from watching the live performance to dancing on stage, Among many other good changes.   All of this is an unexpected gift, with such responsibility and joy at the same team That It Seems Like I'm Living Out ​​the story (or at least the desire) that was running in my mind years ago ... and I Wondered if it would ever come to pass.   I guess you can say we have a modern family, writing out the chapters of our own story we live it out the each day.   Being thankful in prayer and loving in our actions has made ​​this experience so much sweeter Despite the challenges and Complexities que come with the new marriage of three lives coming together the one team.

You can see some of the highlights of our Activities over the last few months at this link on my web gallery page which I can resend to you if you don't have it.

In June, we spent most of the month planning for our wedding with the help of a professional wedding planner, Which was a good decision because We Were Both crazy busy with work and There Were just too many details to sort October   We got married on July 5 ^th at the Portuguese Embassy in Dili and our reception was at the local golf course ... Both of Which went really well, because Especially Both of our parents flew in to Dili to celebrate with us.   The whole in-law experience went well, with chemistry good and bonding between my dad and her dad and her mom and my mom, As They spent several days together before the big ceremony.   Our first dance together was the waltz and thanks to my wife's instruction, my dad was able to learn the waltz in the day to prepare for the big ceremony.   Our dance group Also Performed a Timorese traditional dance and salsa circle dance called "rueda" during the reception along with some nice speeches and words of wisdom from our fathers.     

   

After the wedding, Sara and I enjoyed a week in Bali (Gili Islands) for our honeymoon, where we did some snorkeling to see sea turtles and just enjoyed being together and Then We went back to Bali, with Mary, the few months later just to get a bit of a break from the routine.   We spent lots of time at the gym, hosting BBQ dinners with friends, going out to dance and chill with friends, watching TV and reading series, in the midst of childcare and work.   Lots of responsabilidades but we still fit in some leisure time.    Maria, who is 4 years old, keeps life interesting for us, Especially When She makes up new languages ​​/ words to sing along to hip hop songs and walks around the house in her mother's high heels, purse and belly-dancing clothes, acting like she is always on stage.  In October, she redbourn first place in the fashion show at her school Actually, In Which she Represented Guinea Bissau (her native country) with her ​​dress so she is definitely a natural performer.   She will often Do give us a spontaneous dance performances at home on the weekends, somehow remembering her mom's choreography from months ago or give her rendition of "Let It Go" of the Frozen soundtrack.   And When its time to the chores , she insists on helping us with every house chore, even if she does it 10 times slower ... once she gets a broom, she can not let it go, she has to sweep by herself J  She stays busy in pre-school During the day from 8-5pm at 2 different schools and really enjoys making shapes, coloring, counting, and playing with her ​​peers.   All three of us have had plenty of good moments, but have felt que lately, life in Timor has not Been easy and Both we feel ready to move on sometime next year. 

Overall, our work life Has Been challenging Both of us in different ways we balance the family, fun, and delivering on our deadlines, along with the frustration and shock of having our home nearly broken into ... In which the thief was unsuccessful because of the strong bars on our windows.   In Dili, over the past few months, we've dealt with insects / rodent problems in our home, which is common in tropical countries, as well as blackouts, crazy drivers, national legal battles/scandals that threatened Sara's job security, and staff challenges at my job ... but these are the sort of points of tension and struggle that are common in living abroad and working in development.   We feel we have contributed to the development of the people of Timor in our time here but we are a bit tired both and ready for a rest. 

Matters of the Heart

Laughter, gratefulness, joy, play, contentment, confidence, hope, strength, faith, teamwork, friendship, spontaneity, openness, commitment, risk, relationship, meditation, reflection, renewal, poetry, prayer, inner power, wisdom, and most of all love…..  these words describe some of what I have felt and experienced in the last five months since my last blog entry.  Check out the private link I sent out to my photo gallery to get a sense of what all of this looks like for me.  If you have not seen it, then email me and I can send it to you.  

I said a prayer during Christmas last year, giving thanks for all the good gifts in my life but I asked God for help to restore some sense of balance and happiness to my life after a long and hard year of working abroad…. and that prayer has been answered ten fold.  My quality of life has improved so much since December that I still have to pinch myself sometimes to check if this is all really happening.  Here are some of the good things that have unfolded recently:  my Timorese health team is responding better to me and connecting with me on a personal and professional level, our team successfully launched the new Korean funded Maternal Child Health project and a birth registration project, I lost over 20 pounds by eating and exercising A LOT, I moved to a new apartment and bought a new motorbike which makes life so much more enjoyable and accessible, my mom came to visit me in March here in Dili and we had some good bonding time, I started learning Portuguese and joined the dance group again to learn a new salsa choreography, and THE most important and life-giving development in my life is falling in love with my dear friend and dance partner Sara. 

Sara is from Portugal and works as a legal advisor to the public defender here in Dili.  She and I are continuing to rehearse with the salsa dance group and hope to perform again in the coming months.  As she and I start building our lives together with her beautiful 4-year old daughter Maria, I ask myself how could I possibly be so lucky and so blessed, other than just to acknowledge it must all be part of the bigger plan.  Now I realize, more than ever before, that when love hits you, you just feel it in your bones… its unmistakable and undeniable; it sinks into you deep down like an anchor in the ocean depths that doesn’t let go… an anchor to a place that feels like home.  She met my mom so I hope that very soon, she has a chance to meet many of you who are reading this entry.

During the last few months, I’ve been able to witness breathtaking sunsets, go out to new restaurants and social dance sessions, host a barbeque housewarming dinner at my new place with coworkers,  visit Jaco Island to snorkel amidst the intricate and colorful fish and coral, and chill out at the beach and camp and swim from time to time (and even wakeboard near Dili).  This time I didn’t do this alone as I have done in the past;  doing all these things with Sara makes all of this so much better.  Meeting her friends, playing with her daughter, and exploring the world together are some of the new and exciting things happening now.     

Work is going pretty well, however I have not been to the field a lot.  I have little time for development of my technical skills b/c most of my time is consumed with staff management and hiring, supporting local partner staff projects, monitoring budgets and lots of team meetings.  I enjoy the work but it is not consuming my life like it did last year, which is a welcome change for me and for the people around me.  As I open up more to people around me, let them into my inner world, I truly feel that life itself and all its hidden gifts and surprises opens up to me and it’s a positive cycle of giving and receiving in the natural order of things with the stuff that really matters—relationships.  My body, mind, and spirit are in a much better place now compared to last year;  I look at the sun in the morning and evening with a new sense of awe and appreciation.  Love is flowing in me and through me, swirling around me, and carrying me forward each day.     All of this may sound new, a bit over the top… a bit different from my past blog updates, but life has offered me something new and I am partaking in it and committing to it with a full and whole heart and happy to share this with friends and family.  No hesitations, not holding back, and giving myself to the moment and to the people in my life.  I believe that the near and distant future holds many good promises and I am looking forward what unfolds and to sharing this unfolding process with those who are reading this.