Lives Well Lived

After a day like yesterday I am reminded again how fortunate my children are to be part of a public school community that goes to great lengths – with support from monumental volunteer efforts – to inspire, inform and enlighten our children to follow their dreams and reach way beyond themselves. It was the culminating day in a year-long themed program called Lives Well Lived. A talented group putting in huge effort pulled this off seamlessly. It’s the kind of program that makes me really appreciate living in America, where my children can benefit from this kind of inspired energy, where there are abundant individuals who have been able to pursue their dreams in such diverse forms, and where people feel honored to take time out to talk to kids about it. (And to top it off, other volunteers supplied a beautiful luncheon and hospitality, stimulating an environment for the speakers, staff and volunteers to get to know each others’ life work and interests.)

I was originally going to write a THANK YOU note to the organizers, but I decided instead I’d shout it from the rooftops – and this blog is the closest thing I have to that.

“In its 8th year, the T/E Middle School PTO sponsors a series of year-long programs to expose students to extraordinary examples of the human spirit who live among us and allow students to draw their own conclusions about choices and behaviors in their own lives” (from the brochure, available at http://www.tesd.k12.pa.us/tems/lwl.pdf). I participated as one of the 40+ speakers invited to share my experiences around this year’s theme ‘Imagine That – “Dare to Dream! Live Your Dream!”’

Other speakers ranged from authors and bakers to scientists, veterinarians, conductors, athletes, international volunteers, local TV personalities, yogis, and an ultra-marathoner, who recently ran the Sahara Desert (and who also blogged the experience for philly.com).

The kids were noticeably moved by many of the presentations and I felt an excitement in the air throughout the school, all day long. Most importantly, I heard both girls and boys express that the day had actually “inspired” them.

Returning

We’ve been home five days and I can’t bring myself to write my thoughts about returning from our long journey. Mainly, it’s because I’m not sure what they are. In many ways we’re just picking up right where we left off: school started on Monday; we froze outside watching a girls’ softball game that same evening; Sophia re-joined her tiny ballerinas’ class at the Y on Tuesday, and now I drive a mini-van.

In other ways it’s like we’ve descended from another planet. I went to Costco on my first day back (am I crazy?!) where acquaintances I ran into were talking about how tired they were from the grueling trip back from Orlando or Hilton Head for Spring Break and I couldn’t bring myself to say “well, if you think that’s bad, I just returned from Africa…for 3 months…alone with my children…”

Things seem sort of same-old, same-old – until any of us open our mouths to talk. Like when Sophia rolls her “L’s” with a slight Gambian accent and casually mentions how there is no electricity in her schoollll in Africa -- “but we don’t need it, because there’s lots of sunshine” – or when Anisa clarifies points about everyday life to baffled classmates who can’t believe she lived in Africa and she’s actually home in one piece.

I can see the new perspective in the kids – mostly in unexpected places. On last night’s American Idol they gave a preview of their “Idol Gives Back” show, with Simon in Africa. Layla and Anisa perked up to see this, and then reacted: 1) why do they just say Simon and Ryan went to Africa, and not the actual country they were in? and 2) the school uniforms the needy girls were wearing actually looked pretty nice and new, not like what we had seen at the public school; so the “neediness” seems very relative.

I’m going to try to process the transition back and then write more for this blog. For now, it’s all too fresh to know what to make of the return home. But I know this: as wonderful as the trip was, it is nice to be back home.

De-Parting Thoughts

It’s 1:45 a.m. and I have just finished packing. I feel too wound up to sleep. So I’m in bed, under the mosquito net, with Sophia fast asleep next to me, trying to sort through my thoughts as we embark on our final day during this “Long Stay in Africa,” as the Inquirer calls it.

The feeling that most strongly rises to the top is gratitude. For the past week I have been carrying this thought foremost in my mind – and am constantly amazed by the good fortune we have encountered at every step of this trip. None of us got really sick; we have always felt safe; the kids had excellent school experiences; our volunteer efforts were profoundly meaningful to us and we have found ways to sustain some of the work; we’ve met so many amazing people that I need to organize my notes to list all of them; we’ve made some truly close friends; and we’ve learned so much about this corner of the world that we are just starting to realize how much we don’t know.

A whole tome about gratitude needs to be written to begin to describe the patient, forgiving, wise, and generous hospitality of Sherry and Bozorg and the family who facilitated every aspect of the care and comfort for us boisterous girls.

I’m also grateful for writing this blog. Philly.com and all your comments (to the blog and especially, the countless ones directly to me) gave me the impetus to force myself to sit down and write my take on the sights, sounds, and feelings evoked each day in this different & not-so-different place. Once I’m home, I hope to really-actually-no kidding keep up this momentum and take my book to the next step. (Any comments or thoughts on that are WELCOME.)

As we were in the thick of packing this afternoon, Layla approached me with a serious question: “When do you think we can come back?” They can’t wait – but next time, we’re coming with daddy!

We’ll be home in about one week (after a long stop-over in England and France) and I’ll keep up with the blog for a while to record our transition back. I look forward to seeing many of you then, and will miss so many of you across the ocean.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.