Life has been consumed with "the move," which has been a bit like America, so many choices that you stand in the aisle of the supermarket overwhelmed and agog, simply frozen.
At first, I applied for a variety of environmental law jobs and had a couple of interviews -- one job in Phoenix, one in Denver. I was all but told I was too old: "it's unusual for someone with your 'experience' to apply for this job," they said.
After it became clear that I wasn't going to be the easy breadwinner, Michael and I had a long, long-distance phone call (he was in Cape Verde at the time; I was in the parking lot of a Dakar ATM). We decided we just needed to pick a city. And we posited Portland, Oregon as a good fit. That day, I went home to look up schools and found a perfect one, a school called Catlin Gabel, www.catlin.edu. Of all the schools I'd searched (and we'd been looking), it just seemed ideal -- small, academically challenging, with chances to participate in the arts and an outdoor program of hiking and enjoying the beauty of Oregon. But the application deadline for the school was three days away! I immediately emailed the school and explained our situation. and was warmly and quickly answered. And Catlin Gabel fueled the momentum for Portland.
Applying for high school was a bit like a university application. What interesting work! A parent questionnaire, an application for Rachel, transcripts, teacher recommendations, a skype interview with Rachel and us. And then we waited. We went away for spring break in St. Anton, Austria (that's another post), and we found out there March that Rachel had been admitted (the admission rate is low, so we were excited). The school's warmth and inclusiveness is astounding. The day Rachel was admitted, we got a call from the volleyball coach welcoming her and telling us about the team. She received hand-written notes from the head of the school, the head of the upper school (high school) and a group of kids. A host family has been assigned to greet us.
So, we're headed to Portland, Oregon. We'll miss Dakar deeply, but leaving is inevitable. We'll miss our friends and life in Austin, but we'll visit. Portland will be a new adventure, hiking in the mountains, riding bikes in the rain, and drinking coffee, beer, and Oregon wine. We've rented a house for the summer, and we're mired in the logistics of moving.
We don't have jobs yet, but Michael seems imminently employable (I seem less of a sure thing). We've both got age and experience working against us, it seems. (Just this week, a New York Times article chronicled the problem of "mature" workers.)
Rachel is deeply sad about the move, worrying about saying good-by to friends and anxious about a new school. But I think she also recognizes the opportunities she'll have in America. Michael and I have been on a roller coaster of planning -- do we buy a house? where can we work? when do we move our furniture from Austin? Deep down, we know we'll survive and that we tend to be happy wherever we go.
So, we're tying up projects and life in Dakar. On Sunday, I go to Kaolack to introduce some new volunteers to the 10,000 Girls project (www.10000girls.org). We're still trying to get Salif a scholarship (he's now the national champion -- that's another post). The school board has approved a master plan, we we'll hire an architect in the next few weeks for a new middle school/high school building. And I'll try to catch up on the blog and conclude with our final months in Dakar.
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