These are the kinds of things that might go through your head after you’ve been overseas for 8 months. Well… At least they’re the kinds of things I think up.
1. This week was PVT, which means our parents could come to Africa for five days and see what it’s like on the field. I cried just from seeing my friend and squad mate Rebecca’s parents, I can’t even imagine seeing my family. Weird.
2. My Ohio home reached a low of -39 degrees the other day but it’s 91 here and I’m sweating to death. We don’t have AC. Or fans. Even the refrigerator gets warm but I’m still grateful because some months I don’t have one at all.
3. Do I want to shower during the day when I can see or at night under the stars? Because our shower is outside of course, and by shower I mean bucket of water.
4. There is a six inch long grasshopper keeping me company on my tent right now. (That’s not a thought though it’s a fact.)
5. I have been asking all my teammates where and how dinosaurs fit in the bible. I don’t have an answer I’m satisfied with yet so the search continues. You can laugh, it’s funny I know but I question everything.
6. I won’t get to a grocery store for the next 4 days, I pray the peanut butter and jelly will spread like manna and feed my team the whole way.
7. I am in a limbo of time where I can think about my flight to Asia in one month or the family BBQ for Memorial Day. I can ponder how I will keep from freezing in Mongolia or which country concerts I’ll make it to this summer.
8. In just a few months I’ll be another year older and I can choose any new adventure I please next. That’s both the most freeing limitless thought and also a tiny bit overwhelming.
9. What will be the first stamp in my in my third passport?
10. I’m at that point again where my own language is surreal. When I hear English being spoke I do a double take and seek it out, when I speak in English it occasionally comes out broken or with the wrong words.
Now this is just a peek at what my mind is up to lately. To sum this up I would like to add I am in a really happy and joyful place. From Swaziland I will head to Botswana and that means I am nearing the home stretch! I can see the end stateside and am also seeking to remain entirely present as I serve, this is a time of endurance and excitement. What kind of season are you at in life right now?
