What the Fuck Have I Done? Two Years On.

Jaden and Rowan then and now...



Two years ago today I sat down at my computer desk, in my comfortable uptown Washington, DC apartment, and wrote my first posting on this blog.

At the time I was scared shitless about a major life altering decision. I had just agreed to move to Tanzania - a place I only peripherally knew - with my small kids, to a new job with a new company.

Holy crap, it was a big decision.

Two years on I now know it was the best decision of my life. That step into the abyss has changed my life in only positive ways. That’s not to say that there haven’t been hardships. But for all the many many challenges of my life in Tanzania there are three or four positive counterpoints.

I live in a tropical paradise… with weekends spent on sandy white, turquoise water beaches, or in the pool five steps from my front door. I have a job that I like. I drive a big car that handles the waist-deep water of the rainy season with ease, haven’t cleaned my own toilet in two years, and am blessed with many wonderful friends and colleagues.

My kids run wild and free, chasing geikos and millipedes. They are tow-headed and tan all year long. They don’t remember what it feels like to be cold.

They think there is a fundi to fix every problem. Like last week when Jaden picked up a small geiko in my bedroom and its tail came off – which is an instictive protective response. Jaden came running to me in the living room, quite upset, to say that the geiko needed a fundi to put its tail back on.

I’m not a religious person, but I feel blessed - or whatever the agnostic version of being blessed happens to be.

Shoot me if my Pollyanna attitude is annoying you, You might not like it, but you’ll just have to deal with it. That’s just what I am

So in celebration of my two year blog anniversary I’ve done two things.

I’ve compiled a list of links to my favorite Mahlers on Safari posts out of the 90 I've written in the past two years. It was hard to select just a few, so feel free to pick and choose from the titles that interest you. I hope you enjoy them.

And, in the spirit of leaping in to the abyss anew I’ve cut off more than a foot of my hair! Well… Brian at the Sea Cliff salon cut off my hair. I think I like it. Everyone says I look 10 years younger. You’ll just have to wait to see it.

And before I end, I need to give my annual shout-out to Liz (a.k.a. Mom-101), who inspired me to start blogging and continues to wow me everyday with her writing, her parenting, her business acumen, and her own many leaps off the edge in pursuit of her bliss.

Asante sana for sticking with me, and happy reading.

The Original Post

What the Fuck Have I Done?
March 2006

Posts About the Expat Life

Happy 8th of July
July 2006
Sometimes “Progress” is Assbackwards
October 2006
Abode of Peace or Port Charles
October 2006
When the Rest of the World Rejoices
November 2006
The Education of Hally Mahler
December 2006
Something Stinks in Here
December 2006
Hot Stuff
Feb 2007
What the Fuck Have I Done – One Year Later
March 2007
The Nanny Diaries
May 2007
Swahili School Drop Out
May 2007
Rocket’s Red Glare
July 2007
Not So Faithful
July 2007
A Member of the Club
October 2007
A Member of the Club, Part II. The Insurgency
December 2007
A Bird in the Hand is Worth Two Bushes
February 2008

Posts About Being Jewish in Africa

When You Are the Only Jew for Miles Around
June 2006
Wherever there is Coca-Cola there Are Jews
August 2006
Dayanu
April 2007
Smuli’s Big Yom Kippur Adventure
September 2007

Posts About Parenting But Still Being Myself

Mama Wa Wili and the Battle for Independent Hally
August 2006
Daddy
January 2007
Tick Tock – Time to Close Up Shop
December 2007

Posts About Travel

The Old Me (Except the Old Me Didn't Come with All this Guilt)
October 2007
Seven Hours in Lagos
November 2007

Other Topics

The Club Formally Known as Book
April 2007