Open Windows

As I was packing for this venture I kept having moments where I had to shake my head in astonishment at my own presumptiousness. Where did I begin to have the sense that I could accomplish this crazy thing? It's pretty crazy that I even had the audacity to ask my dear Czech friends to consider hosting us for the year.

And yet... on the other hand, it was less that I made the decision to take my kids and travel abroad for the year... and more that the window opened that showed me that this was the next step in my life. Honestly, I resisted. But once I had seen through that window, I hardly had a choice in the matter. It just simply was.

When I arrived in my dear friends home, the first thing that struck me about the house was the windows. And the doors for that matter. There are no screens. After walking in, Petra opened the back door leading to the garden... opened the windows to the outdoors. The breeze is gorgeous, the views are lovely. And aside from the occasional fly or moth making its way in, there are no bugs to speak of fluttering inside. And, may I just say... I love this. It makes me feel so free and open. The outdoors is just part of our living space. Lovely.

Our newest friends consist of two charming 9 year old Czech boys, and one delightful fella who's 7th birthday is in a few days. I wondered if the ease that I always feel with children would still be there when our language and culture was a barrier. We can barely exchange any words.
But, the answer is yes. I love them already.

I was with my kids and these newest friends at a swimming place on our third day here. This was the first day we had met our new young friends. I was watching my kids communicate without words, swim in a strange new place, laugh and join right in... and honestly I felt very proud of them. How brave they are! What a lot I have asked of them! And yet they are finding their way.

At the end of that first day with them Isaac turned to me and said, "Mom, we all felt shy for awhile in the beginning, but now I feel like I have known them my whole life."

I heard him explain his new friendships to his dad on Skype, "We don't understand a word of what each other says, but we understand each other perfectly."

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."
- Anais Nin