It’s 7:30 AM. I have been up since 3:00 after a mere two hours of sleep on the cold, hard, airport floor.
I haven’t really slept all week. I am exhausted. I am jet lagged. I am emotional.
I am back in America.
I am already experiencing culture shock. Last night I purchased dinner as well as today’s meals all in one credit card swipe in order to save on overseas credit card fees.
Then I remembered:
I don’t have to do that anymore.
I forget that the people sitting next to me can now speak English and understand what I am saying. When ordering, I no longer am required to use a million gestures and poor sentence fragments in other languages until they understand what I am asking for.
I do it anyway. It’s habit now.
I cried in Starbucks today. I was ordering a drink and thought I saw someone from my squad walk by. I turned around and there were no familiar faces to be seen. I am normally surrounded by friends at every moment everywhere I go and I now find myself sitting here in the airport completely alone.
Yesterday we left Romania in flight to NYC. We all flew together and used the time to say our final goodbyes to one another. We are all taking different flights now to our various states. Most of the planes have already taken off. I am the last one at the airport. Like the slow ripping off of a band-aid, I have said goodbye to my new family and forever friends one by one. Goodbyes have been heart wrenching and I can’t seem to stop the tears as I think of the many ways my life has been impacted by the people I have spent this past year with.
My future begins today. This transition hurts and it’s hard but it’s time now to take the next step. To hear where I am headed next in this crazy journey called life stay tuned for my next blog.
airport goodbyes
In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I am so thankful for the role each one of you has played in my life. May God richly bless each and every one of you.
