I’ve had quite a few e-mails, phone calls, text messages, etc welcoming me back home and asking how is it to be back. To be honest, it’s a mixture of emotions and it’s something that I haven’t fully thought about, because I haven’t really fully debriefed myself yet. The first things that come to my head to describe it is sometimes I just want to cry. Or I do break into tears after looking at my pictures, listening to a song and putting together a slide show in my head. It’s a story, my story.
Sometimes I want to just talk to someone about what happened for hours..maybe even days, but then I don’t want to call anyone and rarely answer my phone. Sometimes someone will say something like, “you know, when you were in Peru…” and I’m like “Was I really in Peru this year? That was me?”
It’s nice to see everyone, but I’m ready to leave again. As I told one friend, let me go for 6 months, give me two weeks back here and then send me out again and I could probably do this for the rest of my life. Yet, I also realize that I’m suppose to be here for a year-that’s the season I’m in right now, so I need to breathe it in fully and take advantage of the time here…but that’s sometimes easier said than done.
It’s also rough cause “home” is not “home” for me. I’m currently living with my parents, who moved to Ohio about 4 years ago. I was living on my own in Pennsylvania before the trip. My friends, church family, and work friends are 6 hours away, and I don’t know a soul here! It’s made me realize what life is like for other missionaries coming off the field. Whether it’s for a year, or indefinatly, I realized now what they go through. They’ve most likely, also sold their house, car,etc and have to readjust not only to the culture, but the freedom they lost, the friends moving on, etc. They can always see them or they might be given a car, a house, where they can go whenever they want, but it’s different and there are adjustments that they have to make within them.
With all that being said, I do appreciate living with my parents. It nice to be able to go in my room and close the door when I want to be alone, and it’s nice to come out and just start talking. I’m loving the “daddy/daughter dates” and constantly go out on road trips with my mom. Sunday nights are “Amazing Race” nights. I watch it with them, which is fun cause it brings back different memories. As I told them, I’m glad I didn’t come back and am living alone.
All serious-ness aside, here are some “fun or interesting” little things (hopefully they will make you laugh) I’ve had to think about or adjust to since I’ve come back…
How often I have to make split second decisions– It’s gotten better in the past few weeks, but at first it was like does the paper go in the toilet or trash? Oh yea, I can flush it… or Can I drink out of the tap? as the water is running.
Directions are given by street names– I’m a very visual person, so it was easy for me to get around abroad. Directions usually went like to go to the guy’s house at the end of the alley, the one with a couple of goats and chickens in the yard and turn right. Walk past the butcher shop to the… Here it’s like take Susan street till you reach Oak Ave. Then, turn right on Oak Ave…much more difficult!
Trouble filling out resumes and applications– I’m one that has a hard time using big words on my resume, like “participated in” instead of “did” or “supervised” instead of “watched” So, with all the incredible “jobs” we had, how do you describe the past year? I spent my days sitting in the dirt with a bunch of little grimy kids on my lap, scratching their back as they ran their sticky fingers in my hair …becomes I participated in activities where I was given the opportunity to bond and develop a rapport with underpriveleged children and adolecesents in multiple countries. hmmmm…it’s just not the same….
I’m not the only one who has to readjust…I confuse the dog– I guess to her when someone puts on a sweatshirt, it means they are going to take her on a walk..to me, it means I’m cold. Or, when I eat banannas or lettuce and her head is in my lap, apparently she wants something…It took me a while to give in. Then again, who could deny a face like this..
Watching what I wear– No more “pick up a shirt and see if it smells…if not, wear it for the 4th day in a row” times. I also have worry about matching! No more mixing the blue top with the black skirt and since it’s after Labor Day, I had to put away all my white stuff! 🙂
The phantom vibrating phone– In the beginning, there were times where it felt (or sounded like) a cell phone was vibrating on or next to you. We kind of looked around, patted ourselves down, only to remember that our phones were at home. It was like the phantom phone ring. Now, it takes a while for it to register (or someone has to say)…Hey, that is my(your) phone!
No more translating translations– Where it took a couple times to read a sign to figure out exactly what they wanted to say. China was famous for this!! I have quite a few pictures of different “translations”
Customer service and what line?- This hit in the first few days I got back. I think it was because we were so use to shopping in open air markets that you always had people hounding you to buy stuff. You never had to get someone’s attention to help you out. When you paid for stuff, you never had to wait, especially not in a line!!
And some things haven’t changed….
People drive you everywhere– I will be borrowing what was formerly my car, from my parents, but we are still waiting on the title, insurance, inspection, etc. for now. So I’m still being driven places by someone else!
Why are you taking that big bag? (thanks, dad) – I’m so use to packing a day pack, that it comes naturally. And since I’m left waiting to get rides from place to place, it still comes in handy! I’m so used to “hurry up and wait”, (and we did a lots of waiting) that my bag still consists of a book, notebook, couple of pens, camera (you never know…), toilet paper (yep), Christmas cards, stamps, and a resume folder! And that’s just my bag, not my purse.
