I’ve been back in the States for just around three days now. Marisa, Bekah and I spent our first night in the States on the floor of the Boston airport, anxiously waiting to board our planes home the next morning. It wasn’t long after crawling into our horribly musty sleeping bags on the dirty, hard floor that Bekah and I looked at each other and busted out laughing. She cried, “This is so humiliating!” as a few random strangers eyed us strangely while passing by. I thought it rather fitting that the song playing in the background as we drifted off to sleep was, “How Bizarre.” (Surely you know the one I’m talking about.)
The three of us awoke around 6 a.m. to arms and fingers that had fallen asleep due to positioning them between our bodies and the floor. Marisa winced in pain as she sat up and cried out, “OW, my arm! I can’t feel my arm!” My face was swollen, and I felt like I had a fur-ball in my throat from inhaling who-knows-what all night. We realized at that point that we had chosen a bad place to sleep because it was right next to a door the airport employees had to walk in and out of to get to work. There’s nothing like waking up to four policemen standing watch over you! Marisa informed us through her groggy slumber that she had awoken at 3:45 a.m. as several people passed by exclaiming, “Ohhh, how cute! They’re sleeping on the floor!” Yeah, right. That’s exactly what we were thinking.
The past two nights, I have slept on a bed that literally makes me feel like I am in heaven in a room all to myself. I took a hot shower and actually SMELLED clean for the first time that I can remember in eleven months. I went for a jog around the neighborhood by myself, and I didn’t have to worry about anyone needing to know where I was or when I would be home. I have had the freedom to choose what I want to eat and when, and I can lie on the couch and watch t.v. in a language I understand.
What just happened?
I can’t understand why it’s so quiet everywhere I go, and I can’t believe how big all the houses are. It’s so strange to see people of all sorts of nationalities speaking the same language and to walk down a cereal aisle with 500 choices instead of 5. I am no longer seen as a foreigner because of my white skin and blue eyes, and yet part of me feels like I am in a foreign land that I somehow recognize.
Although my October ’08 World Race experience has come to an end, it’s really just the beginning of this new life I have found. I have grown immensely as God has transformed my life this year, and I am excited to keep doing the stuff we’ve done all year in this next season, wherever it leads me! Thanks SO MUCH for traveling with me this year through my blogs and updates. But don’t worry; the story isn’t over yet! I’ll keep you posted as to what’s next!
