Sabbatical does not equal vacation

Now that our time here is coming to an end, we're getting more questions like, "So, has it been a good experience for you?" -- both from others, and from ourselves.


I think where I'm coming down on this can be summarized in 2 points:
1.) Yes, it has been good.
2.) It's been a break, but not a vacation.


This second point has been what I've been thinking about this week -- and now what I will expound upon here.


Getting away from our normal routines and environment for Pete's sabbatical semester provided us with some unique opportunities.  Aside from the fact that we got to see a new corner of the world, it did give us some of what that word "sabbatical" promises -- rest.  We've had the luxury of time here.  We haven't been rushing from commitment to commitment, place to place. 


My main focuses (foci?) of the day have been teaching the kids, taking care of the kids, cooking, laundry, and beating back the general entropy that a house full of kids produces.  But that's it!  So, in my spare time, I've been able to spend time on some key projects I've been wanting to work on (such as GateWay). We've also had time to develop relationships and spend time with people more than we usually do; we've had more dinners with people here than we've had in the last 5 years at home, I think!


BUT, we are very eager to get home again.  The extra free time has been nice, but we have been missing some of our other "comforts."


Several times over the last several months I've heard myself say, "Had I known that this is how it would be, I would have never come!"  Let's just say, this is not the environment I would have chosen as a vacation destination.


I would not have chosen to live in a house very full of someone else's stuff.
I would not have wanted to be virtually trapped in the (very cold) house for 6 months, which we have been, since the very crowded public transportation is not conducive to larger families, and the city at large is not conducive to children who need to visit public restrooms.
A house with mold all over the walls and ceilings is not my idea of a lovely place to live.
We would not have wanted to take care of someone else's often-barking dogs. (For the record, we have decided that our max for dog-sitting is now 1 month.  After that it just drives us crazy.)
I wouldn't have chosen to come to an unfriendly, untrusting city.
Nor a place where you can't fully trust that the food won't make us sick.


Of course, if I had known everything ahead of time, and refused to come.... I would have missed out on all the blessings and things I've learned while here.  Having just listed #601 in my things-I'm-thankful-for journal, I can easily see the blessings have been many.


So the break from routine has been nice, but now we are ready to head back home -- to a place where there are easy ways to get to an emergency room if you need one, and there are homes equipped with smoke alarms and trustworthy wiring.  To roads that don't have deep holes our kids can fall in, and a yard without wells and dog poop everywhere.


We'll be glad to be able to be understood when we are trying to buy something-- and to be able to find things we need easily.  I can't wait to have a large sink again and a garbage disposal and a dishwasher and an oven that has a thermostat.  And most of all, we can't wait to see the faces that we've missed so much over the last 6 months!


First, though, we head out for "vacation" in Austria and Germany.  It seems weird to use that word after we've been away from home for so long.  But since I've now established in my mind that this has been a break but not a vacation, I am looking forward to the next destinations.


Of course, when you travel with kids and stay in houses where you still have cook all the meals, etc., a mom is never really on vacation, right?


But my parents are coming and my sister- and brother-in-law, too, so that alone is worth looking forward to!  Plus, I bet it will be beautiful....