• My family moved from Texas to Tanzania a decade ago, and it wasn't easy. • We learned to ask for help and not to rush the language barrier. • Now that we're moving to Portugal, we have tools in our belt to make the transition easier.

My family and I had been in Tanzania for two days and found ourselves in Zanzibar. We had just moved from Texas and came to the beautiful archipelago for language learning. Quickly, we realized that we had no idea what it would be like to adapt to a new culture.

It was Ramadan, and in Zanzibar — outside the tourist area — this meant closed restaurants, shuttered groceries, and recommendations to refrain from even drinking water in public until after dark. The cultural norms, so normal for our hosts and neighbors, were way out of our comfort zone and, u

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