2025 Updates

The move to Tunisia, and a personal decision to disconnect more often, unintentionally led to an end to my updates here. Though I doubt that I will become a regular poster again, I did want to stop and write a brief update of what has happened over the past three years.

We have been living in Tunisia for three years now, and I will be returning for the 2025-26 school year. Our arrival to ACST was extremely welcoming and the school put a lot of effort into getting us settled into our homes and exploring our new community. Over the past three years we have developed some amazing friendships that we hope will last a lifetime, regardless of where we are in the world. 

As a teacher, I feel that I have so many opportunities to grow both in my classroom and out. Learning the IBDP programs for Physics and Chemistry have pushed my knowledge and teaching abilities in ways that I could not have expected, and I feel proud of the results that my student have achieved both on their exams and into their first years at universities around the world. Taking on extra "hats" around the school has also seen me back in a coaching role for the Jr. Boys Volleyball team, becoming the Head of the Science Department (managing the budget, international orders, and helping support my team) and being invited into the Teacher Leader team to work with the administration on Secondary School-wide plans. Beyond this, I have been supported in my second Masters degree focusing on teaching Chemistry, which I expect to complete in August or September this year.

As a family, I have been able to support Evelin these past years as a full-time student as she works to complete her degree in translation and interpretation from Universidad Europea in Madrid. We have been fortunate for her to be able to take her classes online, only having to travel each semester for her exams. I am so proud of what she has accomplished, especially when it comes to her fluency in English and French, and her growing fluency in German. Our love for each other has only become stronger with each year, and I am truly fortunate to have this amazing woman in my life.

We have also welcomed a new member into our family, adopting Django last November when we encountered him on a walk with Dante and Canela in a local park. Having three dogs has been a lot of work, but I couldn't imagine it any other way. The three of them are amazing in their own ways, but we always have lots more work to do with their training, especially getting Django ready for his first international travel.

We have been fortunate to host many visitors in our time here, including family from both Canada and Colombia, as well as several friends. Playing host to my parents, Evelin's mom and later her brother J. with his wife and son, plus visits from friends from our time in Colombia has been a wonderful way to see Tunisia with new eyes each time we play tour guide. 

Unfortunately, life tends to have just as many ups as downs. The distance from family and the change of time zones has sometimes made it harder to keep in touch, and we have both had our low moments along the way. It took us until last summer for us to get Evelin her tourist visa to be able to visit Canada, so she had to wait almost three years after our wedding to meet my siblings and their kids. I'm glad it happened when it did, as we lost my father this past March, and so she will only ever have that one trip to be able to visit with him. It was sudden and quick, and a shock to all of us. I am grateful that I was able to take a short bereavement leave to be able to be home with family and help support my mom. And our trip to Canada this summer will feel less without him there to greet us at the door.

I don't know when or if I'll come back to update this blog again. I don't yet want to delete the record of my thoughts and adventures, so it will stay here for a while longer.

Until next time!