reflection — Taking Route

It's Tea Time Somewhere: All About Listening and Learning

In this episode, we are speaking specifically about the work of racial reconciliation. In this conversation, we discuss what we’ve been learning, what racial reconciliation looks like while living abroad, and how we’re teaching our children about race and racism. We can’t “out-write” our experience, so to speak, but it’s our hope and prayer that Taking Route will see growth in the area of better representation as we look inwardly and examine where we can do better and how we can do better. This conversation was important for us to have on the podcast so the Taking Route community can hear where we’re at on this journey and hold us accountable. Thank you for the grace you’ve extended to us thus far. We are confident the Lord — who gathers people from every race, tribe, and tongue to His throne — will continue to lead and make a way for this to be a community that represents a truer picture of His Kingdom here on earth.

PodcastHeather FallisJune 17, 2020racism, Black Lives Matter, learning lessons, anti-racisim, USA, reflection, representationComment

Expat Life, Hospitality, and Olives

Everyone in my family loves olives, thanks to a long heritage from my Greek great grandmother. There were always bowls of the briny treats on the dinner table, and my grandpa purchased them in enormous tins to accommodate our large gatherings. You could call them our “Big, Fat Greek” gatherings, but the truth is our family is much more international than that. My Greek great grandma was adopted as a little girl by a French family living in Istanbul. She married a Russian man and raised three boys who all married foreigners, and she immigrated to the United States with her middle son, my grandpa, who had married an American from Washington State.

Reflections From AbroadRosalie DuryeeDecember 13, 2019hospitality, expat life preperation, reflectionComment

A Little Advice to My Pre-Expat Self

It seems like our journey to our host country took an eternity, so I had plenty of time to prepare. Then, when we arrived, we felt woefully unprepared! How did that happen?As we near a year overseas, I have been remembering how I felt in the stressful months leading up to our move. If my future self could have walked alongside her, what would I have said? If I could write a letter to my pre-expat self, what would I tell her? That depends on how far in the past I could send my letter! I’d tell my high school self to apply herself in Spanish class, study abroad, and keep it up because 15 years later, she’ll be living in Spain. I’d tell my college self to make friends with international students. I’d tell that young married couple not to get a cat because giving him away to a stranger will feel like abandoning a child. (Although, I can't imagine those tender first years without him.)