I’ll still write in English so that my Tanzanian friends can
also read my update.
Now 2 months after my decision I am finally able to write
and talk about how I really felt about leaving Zanzibar and coming back to Holland.
I was numb and tried to push out all feelings and even people.
I went back to Zanzibar with the plan to work at my old
employer Xanadu for a few more months and in the meantime find a house and
maybe a job back in Holland. Of course this plan crashed…..as all my plans do,
I’m better at going with the flow. First, I met an amazing guy while I was in
Holland, so I had an extra reason to go back, to see if it would work out with
him. But I wanted to get a solid (housing and financial) foundation first to
come back to!
The Dutch government assured me that if I returned to
Holland within 6 months after leaving Tanzania (so before July 1st) I
would get my unemployment insurance as I would if I never left Holland. And
within 2 days after returning to the island a friend (bless her!) found a house
for me where I could move in immediately. There were some hurdles, but with the
help of my amazing parents I was able to secure this house! So within 3 days I
booked my ticket back as my housing and financial situation seemed cleared.
Lots of packing to do and saying goodbye to my friends and Tanzanian family. In
the meantime, I got another bacterial infection and ended up with a fever in
bed. Unfortunately, I had to leave a lot of things behind, but that is just
materialistic. The moment that I knew I had to leave in a rush I kind of
blocked all emotions of saying goodbye and leaving. I focused on what to do
now, that was the maximum amount of emotion and stress I could handle at that
moment. Then 2 days before I had to board the plane I got the message that I would
not get a cent from the Unemployment Insurance, so no income…I had to keep
packing and getting ready for my flight, but inside I was boiling with anger
and frustration. I really did not enjoy my last few days on Zanzibar, stress,
being sick and no time to say goodbye properly were tearing me apart.
My flight back to Zanzibar was very emotional, but this one
back to Holland was a mix of relief, feeling loved and stress…I was going home
to my family, friends and a blossoming love. I could not do what I dreamt of,
the work in a hotel in Zanzibar is not what I love to do and didn’t enable me
to do anything that contributes to the life of the local people on the island
or the boys in Mombasa.
When I landed my loving parents were waiting for me as they
always are there for me, and I thank God for them, they made my coming back an
(sort of) easy transition. As I said I was sort of numbed and denied myself from
any feelings at that moment, because I was about to crash. I sort of hid myself
where (almost nobody) knew I could be and spend some relaxing days with some
one that (up until now) never caused any stress in my life and is as laid back
as I normally am. After a few days I had to go back to reality and get things
done and make things happen. On Tuesday I had a car and on Wednesday I moved
into my new studio in Den Bosch, and it felt really good to be back in my city!
Wow…..that all went very fast! Now I needed some time to land in Holland, pick
up my social life and start up getting some finances arranged. Going to get
Social Security and looking into finding a job. With almost no money and no
income I had to go to Social Security, it wasn’t what I wanted, but had no
choice. And it was very clear to me that I was completely not able to work as I
felt depressed and confused. I needed some time, luckily I got a bit of time as
the municipal office was understaffed because of the summer holiday. They still
managed to make it almost impossible to me to get any income and I had to keep
going back and fort to different people with new papers every time. After a
week or two I started to really look for a new job and noticed that there were
a lot of jobs in my field and in the area around Den Bosch. Now, not even 2
months after coming back, I am in a new but solid relationship, living in the
city that I love and am taking care of myself because I got a job and I started
working! Everything is not perfect yet, but I feel like I’m building towards a
solid future where I have something to offer the boys in Mombasa and also time
and energy to help the refugees (newcomers in Holland). My heart will always be
in Mombasa and now even Zanzibar, but I will go back as much as I can!