Dear Mommy and Daddy,
I know it must have been hard to see two of your daughters get in the car and leave, knowing you wouldn’t see one of them for almost a year. Thank you for letting me go.
I’m sure you worry about me more than you let on. Thank you for praying for me and trusting God to take care of me.
Thank you for being there when I needed to talk through something that was going on.
Thank you for raising me to not be a quitter, even though somedays I wish you hadn’t.
In two weeks I’ll be in Africa, as you know it’s a place I’ve always wanted to go. I asked you ten years ago if I could go, you suggested I go to Peru instead. Thank you for not killing my dreams but steering them to another channel, for the time being.
I’m sure people think you’re both crazy; you let me go traipsing around Europe when I was 22, you suggested I go to Iraq where I was 30 miles from Isis…
I’ll be home in three months and I probably will not be the same person I was when I left. I will have seen a lot of the world, fact is it will be the first time, in a long time, I will be in a place where they speak the same language I do. Where I can go into a store and not have to point and guess at what I want, and pray I can see the total because I probably will not know how much I owe otherwise. I haven’t been in two countries where they speak the same language since I left Bolivia. I have at least 6 different currencies on me. I can say hello and thank you in a lot of languages, just not the one I’m in currently. I’ve also discovered that some people shake their head no when they’re saying yes.
I’ve seen poverty on many different levels. I’ve played with kids who don’t know what love is. I’ve lived in, at least, 8 different rooms from hostels to churches to houses. I’ve walked the streets of cities where everywhere I look I am met with looks of despair. I’ve seen someone’s mangled body lying dead on the side of the road because they were hit by a moto…
I’ve had adventures; paragliding, hikes, played with elephants, nosed out coffee shops, hung out in parks, almost been kicked off a train, slept in sketchy hostels, spent the weekend in the desert, walked along the Danube…
I’ve seen places and things; Angkor Wat, Lake Titicaca, the killing fields, Budapest, Thessaloniki, to name a few.
I’ve learned things too; how to make tortillas over an open fire, that using a hair dryer on a fire is like turning your burner up (it makes a mean flame). I’ve learned that celery root can be cut up like a potato and used instead of the stalk, that dryers are not a thing the world over, just because it has spice doesn’t mean it has flavor. I can feed 6 people and make something out of nothing…
I’ve discovered that; I love to cook-especially for others, taking pictures with a nice camera is lots of fun, the feather pillow from your couch is the best thing ever (thank you mommy), that editing pictures is fun, that just because a country is known for its coffee doesn’t mean you can get good coffee, that Nescafe isn’t the worst thing out there…
Like I said I’ll be home in three months. It will be the first time, since I left, that there will not be 5 or more people around me, ALL THE TIME, so if I’m at your house A LOT, that’s probably why (it might take a bit to get used to being alone). I probably willn’t know what to do with that 8in memory foam king sized bed you bought me a while back (I’m really excited to sleep on it again though!) You may find used toilet paper in the trash can, I haven’t flushed toilet paper since the layover in Miami. Please don’t laugh at me when I get excited about the shower, cause it’s going to happen. I’ll probably be excited about the toilet too; I bet it’s not going to rock every time I use it. I haven’t driven a car in months so… can I drive home from the airport?
What I’m trying to say is, if I seem out of it when I first get home just give me time. It’s all going to be “new” and I don’t know what to expect as I adjust to life at home; living out of a dresser instead of having to pack my bags every month, being able to understand what people are saying, having only one currency in my wallet, sleeping in the same bed every night, flushing toilet paper. I might look like a 6 month old discovering the world.
I can’t wait to see you! And Mommy, just in case you’re wondering what I want for my first meal at home; if it’s breakfast fried mush or hot milk and eggs over saltine crackers- if it’s lunch or supper mashed potatoes, meat and gravy with green beans and brown butter. Maybe Carolyn can make me her famous brownies or a cake??, ask my team mates I’ve been craving a good cake for most of the race.
Thank you for letting me go and thank you for being somewhere I can come home to. Thank you for giving me a foundation and letting me build on it. Thank you for giving me my wings and letting me fly.
I love you, and I’ll see you in a few months, Maria
