We all wear lots of “hats” at different times, and since coming to the Hilltop, we have sometimes felt like we spend our days switching constantly from one hat to another. We have hats labeled “Parent”, “Spouse”, and “Friend”, and hats labeled “Resident of the Hilltop” and “But Always a Foreigner”. We have our never-ending “Language Learner” and “Culture Learner” hats (which occasionally feel like “Toddler” hats). We also have the “Long-Distance Friend/Family” hat, and at some point we’ll have the “Visitor to What-Used-to-be-Home” hat again.

Mr. Rikshaw’s work hats include “IT Director” for our team in the Hilltop, “Remote IT Support” for the translators still in the Sandbox, and “Linux System Developer” for members if our organization around the world that are using Wasta-Linux.

In August, Mama Nomuula added a couple more hats to her list as well. One hat is for the translators that live and work in their rural homeland locations, but who need ways of improving their English skills in order to do their work more effectively. Mama Nomuula sends English lessons and communicates with the translators and their advisors by email so they can study English from where they live. The other hat she put on this year is “Learning Support/ESL Teacher” at Bingham Academy, the international school that our kids attend. Between two part-time job hats, the mom hat, and several others, it’s been a busy fall!