Home again, home again, diddly-dum

How strange, I am back in my home culture now. I have the foods, bedtimes, and bathrooms that I am used to; I can speak to everyone without screaming for Jennie, or stressing out every single one of my brain cells to conjure up a single sentence, and best of all? Lots of down time and peanut butter with a spoon. I should be completely blissful at the moment right? Well, it is probably not the best time to ask such a question as I am not completely coherent at the moment due to a tidal wave of fatigue that pounded my senses this morning. I was doing fine since we returned on Friday, but now it all suddenly hit me and I am really tired. At any rate, I have to say that I miss Argentina very much. We made many great friends and got to see a beautiful side of the world. I plan on going back someday, hopefully soon.

To finish up the last week in Argentina, we spent as much time as possible with people from the churches we worked with. Monday morning we went to the Supermarket and stocked up on maté, dulce de leche, and chimichurri. Tuesday we went back to Lanus to say goodbye to everyone there, and we concluded our time in South America with a big presentation on Weds. night. We spent most of the day inviting people and practicing new dances which we performed with the Jesus Group. Because of the rain, we did not have quite the attendance we were hoping for, but we made the most of it and the evening was so much fun. It was our last time to dance and perform with them, and some of them had to say goodbye that night, so it was a night of many emotions. Afterward, we went back to the house we were staying in and stayed up joking around for awhile as usual. Thursday dawned as any other day, except for the fact that this day involved meticulously cramming all our junk into suitcases (yes it is an artform), trying to figure out how to make room for several Kilos of maté and dulce de leche, and stuffing our faces with the last tastes of Argentinian bread. A decent group of people came to see us off. We left the church in a van, but then our friends decided to make the last possible goodbye in the airport so they followed us by taking the train. 5 minutes before we had to go through security, they all came running through the doors and we spent several moments cheek-kissing and hugging repeatedly until everyone had watery eyes and sore arms. As I rounded the corner to customs, I looked back to wave one last time and completely broke down, I was very sad to leave all of them. The officer at the desk probably thought I was loca as I handed him a tear stained passport with a picture that hardly matched my marcara-marked face. After that dramatic exit, we had quite the trip ahead of us. It was still uncertain whether or not the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave would accept our dear leader onto it's soil since he is still in the process of renewing his visa. Our first flight was to San Paolo, Brazil where we spent two hours in the airport, finally getting to make fun of Jen being lost in translation as she was startled by a security guard shouting in Portuguese. The next flight was to Atlanta, Georgia where we arrived after a 10 hour flight of no sleep (but there were personal tv screens at each seat so that was a bonus, at least I was entertained). From there, God miraculously brought all 6 of us through security, customs and all that with about 10 minutes to spare! By late morning on Friday, we touched down in NYC, where we were all blissfully enjoying the cool air on our sun-torched skin until reality hit and we shivered the whole 3 hours back to Coatesville in our t-shirts sitting in a car with no heat.

Now we are staying in Lancaster and commuting regularly to Coatesville. We are having team sessions to talk about what God has done in our lives and how to now readjust to America. Now I am faced with the questions of "what is next?" and "can I really sleep in a room by myself now?". I dont know what God has in store for me now, but I am excited to see where life will go now that I am ready and willing to listen to His voice.

I will probably write once or twice more to keep you all updated on transitional stuff. But for now, I will say that my graduation will be on Friday night at 7pm, here in the Coatesville Neighborhood Center. You're welcome to come if you so desire. Also, I once again want to thank all of you for your prayers and support, it was all much appreciated!