It seems crazy that just a few days ago I was sleeping on the airport floor in India, awaiting the long journey home. After nearly 20 hours on planes, lots of goodbyes, a night out celebrating in New York, a night reuniting with friends in Philadelphia, and an emotional arrival to the Kansas City airport, I've finally made it back to Emporia!
I have felt incredibly loved in the past couple of days by everyone who has welcomed me home and gone out of their way to come see me! Thank you all for your messages and phone calls and especially those of you who came out Tuesday night in Philly. It was wonderful to see all the faces I missed so much this year!
Everyone in the Emporia area, please feel free to stop by our open house this Saturday from 2-5 p.m. for snacks and stories. The address is 4040 Graphic Arts Rd.
Saying goodbye to my two best friends from the Race, Erica and Bethany.
I have lots of sleep to catch up on and processing to do before I post more about my reentry experience, but for now, here's a final Q&A that Caleb wrote for me to help share a bit of my year with you all. Thanks for reading my blogs all year!
Q: Though the world race is an effective name, if you could rename the experience, what would you call it?
A: The longest, hardest, best year of my life.
Q: What is the first thing about the trip that you will forget?
A: I’m sure as time goes on I will forget most of the little silly things that bothered me so much at the time. I imagine the memories of the honking horns, miscommunications, heaping portions of white rice and terrible smells will disappear and all that will remain are the good memories and lessons learned.
Q: Being immersed in a culture for 30 days allows one to pick up on accents and tendencies of the locals natives. You seemed to have been very observant and of course your comedic timing has always been impeccable. Which culture do you feel you can do the best impression of?
A: I do a pretty good Indian head bobble. Sometimes I catch myself doing it without realizing it, so bear with me as I phase that out.
Q: What do you miss more…tall building or flat land?
A: Been around a lot of flat land this month in the villages of India so I’m gonna go with tall buildings. Luckily I got my fix in New York City!
Q: You finished the whole Bible! What an accomplishment. Name a part, book, chapter or verse that you had previously underrated
A: Thanks! It was one of my goals this year and establishing a habit of daily spending time in the Word has transformed my life. I think I had previously underrated the Old Testament. It was definitely difficult to get through, but I’m glad I took the time to read it. The Old Testament is full of broken, busted people just like us who had to face the wrath of God. It’s a reminder of the beauty of the cross and the grace that it represents for us.
Q: Do people still say “you’re not in Kansas anymore,” a lot to you in foreign countries?
A: Nope. I’ve heard it here and there but not nearly as much as in the States. The Wizard of Oz references have been flying in the past few days though.
Q: At one point during the trip, you stopped eating meat. Upon your return will meat consumption return to previous levels or will you join your sister as a vegetarian?
A: I’m definitely eating meat again! I didn’t eat meat for most of Africa, but I did eat at a Brazilian steakhouse on my birthday and was very relieved that I could still consume large quantities of beef. I’ve already crushed a Philly cheesesteak and some KC BBQ.
Q: I wanted to re-ask this question from the Q&A blog before you left: What will be the hardest day of the race? Previous answer: “somewhere in the middle”
A: I’m not sure I can pinpoint the exact hardest day of the Race, because there were a lot of hard days. The very end of the Race was definitely the hardest. Overall, I can honestly say that the World Race was much harder than I ever expected. It was so worth it though.
Releasing lanterns into the Indian sky at our squad's final banquet with one of my closest friends Suzanne.
