Tomorrow, "our" refugee family from Kosovo arrives in Ottawa: one mom, four kids, ranging in age from 8 to 22; whereabouts of Dad unknown.  We've got their three-bedroom "townhouse" leased, and equipped with some of the most basic, but reasonably functional and attractive furnishings imaginable.

Our sponsor group, folks who've met each other maybe once before tonight (in most cases), are feeling the challenge of the complete unknown.  We know that the mom is 43 and has four years of schooling; we know the eight year old also has four years of schooling.  The ones in between have a range of numbers of years of education, and the 22 year-old has worked construction.  We're told the 17-year-old "speaks English", and has had eight years of education.  We're hoping he speaks it reasonably well, since Ottawa doesn't have enough Albanian-speaking volunteers to match up each sponsor group with a translator as they meet their arriving families.  

Will they like their new home? Will it be a come-down from what they're used to? Will they feel bored and isolated? Or thrilled to be out of the country that expelled them with bombs and the army barracks that have been home for the last two months?  Will they think the very modest amounts of money provided by the government is a luxurious amount of spending power? Or a sentence to deprivation?  Will they be craving company, and technology and rapid integration? Or are they grieving, and private, and wanting to be left alone to start their new lives? Our questions are infinite in number.

If this is how we are feeling tonight, how must the Gashi family be feeling.  They've probably been told they have a group of "sponsors" who will help them settle and who found them housing.  Have they heard from those who have gone before? Has what they heard pleased them or frightened them?  Will they be safe in their new homes? Will they be able to cook? Will they be able to practice their religion, if they so choose? How fast will they be expected to speak English? What about school? What about dad? Who are the strangers we must trust for the next two years to help us meet our needs and settle in?  The Gashi's must be scared out of their minds.  But then, fear is probably a familiar acquaintance of theirs, and strange people probably aren't as scary as being threatened with death if you don't leave your home.  Or so I'd think.  Maybe.

By this time tomorrow night, we'll know the answers to some of these questions.

P.S. We've had occasion today to worry about our dog, Dee-Oh. That's short for Dee-Oh-Gee, but the Gee is silent.  His right hind leg seems numb. Or malfunctioning at least. He's not in pain; he's happy and hungry.  And he's only three: he's not supposed to have these ailments yet!  He'll see a vet on Saturday morning at the latest.  But it's still cause for worry.  Sigh.

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