maandag 22 april 2013

New adventure on the horizon

Two very thin purple lines cause the end of this blog. At least for now and for the Phnom Penh part of it. They also cause a little jump in the way my hearts beats and the way I walk, sing and talk. A smile in everything I do. An incredible happiness that has come over me and that despite the occasional gag and tiredness is with me wherever I go. 


The most normal thing that happens to so many women seems an incredible miracle and blessing to me. My only experience with something alive growing inside of me are tropical parasites, so it’s all new and scary and by times even terrifying. But I can’t wait to experience it all and meet him or her sometime in October or early November.

Before that I will go home and do all the things we have missed out on in the past amazing but sometimes very difficult and heartbreaking years. I want to go for evening walks, go to Paris together, sleep in and read newspapers in bed, make him breakfast, lunch and dinner, pick him up from work, leave notes on the kitchen table, surprise him and love him to make up for all the time we missed.

And then a wonderful new adventure will start. And I have absolutely no clue what it will be like, which makes it even better.
It's been a great journey to leave a life behind and start another one in a different country and I have learned more, seen more and experienced more than I could have ever imagined. It's with a very sad heart that I will be leaving UNICEF (for now!) and I will surely dearly miss the fulfilment and rewards of working for this wonderful organisation. I have been lucky enough to meet the most amazing, loving and crazy friends from different corners of the earth and I have been extremely lucky as well with the brilliant and inspiring people that I have worked with and I am grateful for all they taught me. But I could also not have done it without the support I kept getting from my lovely family and friends from home who, despite the neglect and periods of silence, kept being my friends and loved ones that were always there for me.
Thank you so much for reading my blog and for all the sweet and lovely responses I have received on my posts. I can barely imagine more than 15000 times people have read the words I have written to tell them about me, my work and the happy and sad moments in my 4 years as an expat. It seems like yesterday packing up my stuff and leaving, yet it seems ages ago as well that I left. With this little miracle not only my belly is growing steadily but I also feel calmer and the peace of mind has grown to live and stay in the same place for a while. And who knows, I may continue blogging here in the future. Slightly less exotic news most likely, but who knows where life will take the three of us.