"The Signs Are In English!!"

The title of this post was my exact reaction when my dad picked me up from the airport yesterday, and the first thing I saw was a fried cakes stand, and it said "Cakes" in English. I could not, for the life of me, figure out why it was in English and not Russian. That's how I was thinking yesterday!

I am so grateful to back, but I can definitely already feel the withdrawal setting in. I miss the kids, the people who I traveled with, the language, the food - all the things I thought I wouldn't miss, I do. They all became a part of me this past week, and leaving it behind is hard!!

However, it is nice to get back to a place where I can order off an English menu to a waitress who speaks English, where I'm able to read the road signs, to see distance in miles instead of kilometers, to feel like I can wear jeans and a tshirt without looking like a tourist, and to drive in a semi-safe environment - in my own car, nonetheless!

I plan on working on getting my journal entries up between now and Friday night. I'm taking day 1 back in the States to relax at my dad's - do laundry, run errands, and get ready to head back to my apartment. Then I start work, and it's back to real life, almost as though none of it happened.

That's going to be the most frustrating part - merging back into a world that doesn't understand where I've been, who I've met, and why I feel like I'm still needed there. To the rest of the world, I'm just one more college kid who went on a mission trip and came back. They'll ask how it was, what I did, what my favorite part was, but they'll be expecting a brief, 5-sentence answer, and even that they'll forget as they go on with their lives. I can't really complain; I'm in the same boat when people who I love return from long trips. There's something about living in this culture that creates a sense of apathy toward the outside world. America has turned somewhat numb to anything beyond our borders, and that's hard to come back to.

All that being said, thank YOU for reading this. This blog will be a very significant tool in my debriefing process, and if anyone would like a presentation or to look at pictures or just to talk to me about my experiences, please don't hesitate to contact me! There's a lot going on in my head, and I'd love to share it with as many people as possible.

Blessings on all that you do!