Home Sweet Home

Here I am almost two weeks after arriving in the States after 37 hours of travel!

I've wanted to write something for awhile but have been waiting until I knew just what to say but it still hasn't come to me.  My first night home was wonderful and I am so grateful to my family for that... they spoiled me and made me feel so special.  Michael even ran up to me at the airport and when we pulled into my house all the flowers planted were pink just for me and there was a pink welcome home sign on the door.  It gets better... entering our house there were a dozen beautiful pink roses and located all throughout the house my family planted little notes for me to find some of my favorites were: a post it on the window reminding me that it is the same sun out there, a notes from my brother on the fridge downstairs and on a bottle of beer reminding me that I am no longer legal, a post it on my mirror reminding me that I am so loved, and a note in a cupboard in the kitchen about cockroaches.  I felt so loved and know that I am.  The night continued with everyone sitting through my videos of jumping out of planes and riding elephants and showing off all my new artwork and clothes and a million other things.  We enjoyed some of my favorites like caprese, mashed potatoes, sopresetta, and good orange juice!  It was a perfect night and grammy even came over, I think everyone got a better kick out of watching her reaction to my bungy jump video than actually watching me on the screen! And the night even ended perfectly with Michael busting out his state tournament video to gain a little attention back :)

Note: I am even wearing a new twins tee-shirt from Ari and Michael that was laying out on my bed!

Other than my perfect first night home, it has been difficult to be back.  There are so many simple things I miss: the accents, trams, my 5 roomates, waking up to the ocean, running on the beach, everyone wearing bafanna bafanna gear, vuvuzelas, the use of izit, aswell, hectic, howzit, and bru, having dirty feet constantly, never being alone, not having a tv on, the music, walking everywhere, all the people I met, not having a cell phone, my little bed, hair that refused to stay straight, rand, kombi drivers yelling... and the list goes on and on but these are the things I experienced every single day that I really do miss.

On the other hand here is what I love about being home that I missed in South Africa: My mom and dad, Michael and Grammy, all of my friends, green grass, my deck, family dinners at my kitchen table, bagels and cream cheese, St. John's church, the RAC, my disgustingly overly pink room, Twins baseball, lakes, abc family, air conditioning, baths, my closet, random and frequent calls from my dad, my mazda, good running shoes and of course many other things are wonderful about home!

However despite all the things I have at home I continue to miss South Africa more than I imagined I would.  Most of all I miss the people in my group but I realize more and more each day that the friendships I gained and in South Africa have only just begun and are only going to get stronger.  The happiness it brings me to get a silly text reminding me of something from South Africa or seeing one of my roomates names pop up when I am receiving a call is indescribable.  I have never felt so loved or appreciated by my friends.  I hoped to gain a lot in South Africa but I did not anticipate gaining such wonderful friendships.  Having these friendships made me aware of my friends at home and how much I appreciate them aswell.  I think I was able to feel so much love from my friends in South Africa because I really began to love myself in a way that had been lacking in the past years.  Now now only do I love myself, I am so much more aware of the love I get from all of my friends and family, and most importantly through Christ!

I will undoubtedly continue to have days where I long for the Indian Ocean terribly and when I just want to call one of my roomates from "the jungle" and cry but I will also continue to have moments here like at the Twins new stadium and sitting on Lake Minnetonka when I say to myself, I love Minnesota and home so much.  I need my family and friends to remind me of my experiences and of my growth but not to allow myself to escape to those moments and I need to remember that the real happiness and zest for life I gained in South Africa is possible right here and anywhere for that matter.  Recognizing how I have grown, changed, and how this experience in South Africa has changed me is something that will be a process I will be trying to unravel for possibly the rest of my life.  The things I encountered over the past 4 months were truly incredible.

and finally before going abroad I was told that I had to fall in love along with a list of other things to do.. fall in love I thought?  Right... a girl's dream but really?  But I absolutely fell deeply in love abroad with so many different things in a way I hadn't really known before.  I fell in love with: a new country, the woman I am, the Catholic Church, my friends, running, Kuku, Cedi, Desi and all the other children at the House of Resurrection, the rosary, reading, history and literature, Christ, cooking, and living in the moment.  South Africa introduced me to so many things.  Some things I always knew I cared deeply about but being separated from everything familiar to me allowed me the opportunity to discover what I valued most and found most important!  I wouldn't change a single thing about this experience and I really believe that I will be back in South Africa someday.  I've never know what it meant to be as grateful as I am today either.  I'm so blessed and my entire family is and all of my friends not only do we have so much, but we have one another.  Clearly after all that I experienced in South Africa it is hard to be back and will continue to be challenging but I'm so happy to be home sweet home with my family who I have never loved more!

Thank you for supporting me and following me and loving me!  It has been so great to share some of my thoughts and experiences through this entire experience.  I love you all and can't wait to continue to share my stories and experiences because South Africa is never far from my mind....

Cheers to South Africa I'll see you again 'now now.'