Home

I am home. After 1 year, 2 months and 5 days I have returned. It is such a weird feeling to be back home. I am excited of course. It is great to be back to such familiar territory after a year of living in community with people who are now friends but were once strangers. And the 2 months I spent being a vagabond were nice but I am beyond sick of living in a suitcase. I am happy to begin this next phase of my life; to start putting down my own roots.

I am also happy to meet my niece. She turns one next week and Sunday was the first time I have seen her. Leaving when my sister was still pregnant is a good way to ensure my status as the unknown, weird but quirky, fun auntie. I have bought her gifts from each of my stops in hopes of buying her love! We shall see if it works.

But I am a little nervous as well. It some weird way I have also grown use to my slightly random lifestyle and am nervous that settling back into life will be hard. I am prepared for some of the reentry road blocks: friendships will be different, I and the people in my life have changed, and the world continues to go at its break neck speed which I will have to readjust myself to.

Luckily, I will have plenty to do to help keep me busy and will require my attention. I will need to get a job. Hopefully this will not take to long and I will be able to find something that will be fun since I definitely need some work related recovery time after this last year. I will also begin the long and arduous road that will lead into my next chapter: graduate school. After much thought, advice, prayer and nervousness I have decided to return to school and pursue a master’s degree. I have a long road ahead of me indeed and have to get moving right away. I will be studying for and taking the GRE in late October (please pray for me) and will be sending out my applications for the Fall 2009 in November and December. I will also be, hopefully, following my most random decision by moving up North. So I will be applying for schools in the Northeast and hope to be moving there in the summer. The location will, of course, be based on where I am accepted. Finally, as if I do not have enough on my plate, I need to decide what area I want to pursue in graduate school. Since my undergraduate degree was Political Science with an African Studies focus I plan to following with either International Relations with an African Studies concentration or Development with an African Studies concentration. I will also be looking at courses in Emergency/ Relief Management.

How you can help: pray for me whenever you think about me. I will need it!

The Netherlands, Scotland and Norway

Since I had to travel through Europe to return to the States I decided to travel through Europe again. This time I went to three new countries and was able to reunite with a number of fellow ex-Mercy ship's crew members.

Each country was amazing and my friends were all amazing hosts. I am so blessed to be able to not only do some traveling but to be able to stay in homes instead of having to check into hostels or hotels. I will be posting pictures of each stop now that I am home and have internet access...enjoy!

Round 1: Lesotho

My departure from the ship took me straight to Lesotho. I had to travel from Liberia to Lesotho via Ghana and South Africa. It was a long trip but definitely worth it. The best travel memory was made in Ghana. I had to walk out of the airport and go completely around the building to make a "transfer" connection. So with the help of one of the airport employees I departed the airport, walked down the Accra sidewalk, circled the airport to the back of the building and entered the departures area! It was insane but great since I was able to experience some Ghanaian night life, see a bit of Accra and feel completely terrified at the same time! It has been awhile since I have been truly scared while in Africa. But it was great and my guide was very nice.

Being back in Lesotho was a dream that ended to quickly. Seeing Nathan, Nicole and Caleb was much needed medicine after the physical, mental and spiritual assault I experienced in Liberia. I was able to rest which, although I did not do much of it, it was nice to know I could rest if I wanted to. I felt appreciated, truly appreciated, which I sadly had not felt in quite awhile. I was able to nurse the entire family back to health as we all had various symptoms of a flu-like bug only a few days after my arrival. I was able to laugh with people I had not seen in over a year and it was great to be surrounded by familiar faces and voices.

We fell into our very familiar groove so quickly it almost felt like I had not left Lesotho at all. There is something very special about being with people who you know so well and who know you. You are able to just relax and be yourself. I truly appreciate the role this family has played in my life over the years (we have known each other for over 5 years which is crazy) and I appreciate just being able to go visit them. They may not be the family I was born into but they are definitely the family I will continue to choose to be a part of...I love my brother, sister and nephew more than words will ever fully capture!

* Some pictures from this leg of the trip are also on my blog. The first few are just around the house but the last section took place at Bloemfontein Zoo in South Africa. We took an adventure there and I have never felt so much freedom at a zoo before. There were no people guarding, guiding or supervising us. Except for the lady at the ticket booth I did not see any zoo employees minus a couple of lawn guys near the end. We pet the animals (Nathan a rhino and Nicole a water buffalo), we fed the animals (Nathan, Caleb and myself fed the monkeys pretzels) and we goofed off like people in an unsupervised zoo will do! It was wonderful!