Now (!) it feels normal. Only now, after almost four months. Now our routines are established. Get up in the morning (without alarm clock of course), Oliver makes coffee, I need a little longer, what Oliver every day surprised again, house clean up and get ready, departure control, Oliver outside, me inside. Driving, taking a photo break, sight-seeing, having lunch, driving on. Look for a night place, try it out until Shujaa stands straight, sundowner with gin tonic, nuts and olives, or with beer or non-alcoholic beer. Eating, reading, viewing and working on photos, sleeping. If we do not drive all day long, then of course we are in a nice place, stretching the reading breaks, working on the internet, Oliver doing sports, I yoga, or simply enjoying the surroundings.
Sounds boring? But it is not. These are routines that we all have and need. This is our special frame, and in between are a lot of other unexpected or wonderful things, like breathtaking nature, surprising encounters, or sudden repairs. By the way, they are omnipresent, constantly, … always screwing, gluing or testing something. “Did you hear that sound?” “Yeah, what can it be, I’ve never heard that before …” “I think a screw has come loose that vibrates …”
And we as a couple work together very closely, because we are so close together as never before. You discover new sides, learn to appreciate the other again in a different way, outside the comfort zones. You can not get out or you can escape in work. Then you steer faster, because on such a trip loneliness and strife is pretty stupid. It is certain that it is processed and not pushed away. This is not possible here. That’s a big difference to home. In this process, I feel more gentle, loving, considerate, willing to learn. The gift of love grows bigger.
In the meantime, there is also a lot of homesickness. For the first time in months. Homesick for the friends, for the family, for the “big” home, to eat for special things, although we can not (really) complain here in Argentina and Chile.
And the lifetime I personally experience is much more intense. Earlier in the job, the days just rushed by. In routine and stressful situations, a month was over in a second, and each time I wondered, what did I actually accomplish this month, even though you’ve worked on a lot of topics. Today, every day is different, the framework of the routines is good and important, but in between lots of unknown and simply staggering fill in the gaps.
Moreover, it is not easy, because at the latest we know from psychology that these imponderables cause constant stress and that is partly noticeable. Because the way home from the office through the 1,000 times driven forest is just not the same as 10 km narrow street, where we do not know at the beginning of the way if we come through, Oliver is 100% attentive and watching the environment and I hang out of the fortress to announce in cm-steps the distance to the walls or stones. But I personally feel that life as so pure, genuine and natural. God’s creation, whether one is a believer or not, I can see it every day and I am so incredibly thankful to be able to experience that in my life.
