Welcome Home

     So this post is much later than I would have liked but things got a bit busy since coming back and I haven’t had a chance to sit down and write! Last Tuesday I arrived at the airport early (6am) and waited a bit before mom and Grandma and Grandad showed up to pick me up. We headed towards home and decided to grab some breakfast at a little diner on the way. I then began the lovely process of unpacking and organizing my life throughout the day, contacting people, then had dinner at El Azteca with some of the fam and friends! It was great to start the rounds of welcome backs on this end, but I must say I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day. I forced myself to stay up until 8:30pm so I could try to get used to the time change, but was pleasantly surprised when it was still light as I was going to bed! I forgot just how long the days are here during the summer, and I think that has helped me adjust even more quickly. The next morning I went riding with Amy and had a lovely reunion with Charlie! It felt so good to get back on a horse and be out in the woods again. I was amazed at the trees! Not only is everything SO GREEN here (hello Spring!), I actually recognized and knew what (most of) the trees were. The leaves, the smells, the familiar sounds of birds and tree frogs – wow, it is nice to be back in my nature stomping grounds! I do need to brush up on my trees and birds, though.

      I was a bit worried that I would have forgotten how to play the piano, but after sitting down and opening up my Phantom of the Opera book and playing a few songs, I realized I surprisingly hadn’t lost too much! Other than finger muscles in my left hand.  

     I suppose the reverse culture shock hasn’t been too bad, but it has been hard to just try to step back in to American life. I feel like there was an African Ellen and American Ellen and I had to switch over when I got back. There are still so many things I miss about Botswana and I think some things will definitely carry through to my ‘American’ life, but for now I am trying to focus on the reasons why I was excited to come home and not how much I miss everyone and everything there!

    On Thursday I drove down to Blacksburg to enjoy graduation festivities with Chip and his family. It has been quite the whirlwind of eating and graduation (And getting my hair cut!! Woo!), but good fun meeting everyone and catching up with the Wesley people that are still around! It was super super weird to come back here. Over the past year I have grown out of the college stage of life, whatever that entails, but coming back and trying to fit back in was a bit odd.  Oh dear, I think that means I’m getting old!

    Well to continue with the choppiness of this post, I think I’ll include some of the lists of things I came up with before I left Botswana of things I would miss and were looking forward to (in no particular order):

Things I will miss:

- Wildlife, being minutes from Chobe National Park

- All my kids!

- Friday nights

- Friends!

- Bike riding every day, having time and energy to exercise

- ‘Life’ talks with Lipa

- Clouds/sun/thunderstorms/sunsets

- Being tan

- God time, relaxing

Things I’m looking forward to:

- chocolate chips (and ‘real’ brown sugar for baking!)

- washing machine/dryer

- mountains

- family and friends on the same continent

- efficiency/being able to accomplish more than one thing each day

- contemporary Christian songs/church

- having my own car/driving

- real milk

- piano

- horseback riding

- drinking water straight from the tap

- swimming in rivers and lakes without worrying about crocs and hippos!

- ice-makers

- not having to use adapters

     Driving has been really weird! I think I had gotten to the point where all my instincts were ‘left-side’ of the road, and now I have to switch back. I’ve only gotten myself in a couple of pickles, including walking across roads and looking the wrong way for traffic! That is quite dangerous… I just look both ways five times now and keep telling myself right, right, right, while I’m driving!

    It has been a great first week back, from here until mid-July I will be planning my travels and future in Oregon, taking the Praxis exam, catching up with people, and making my way out there. The thought of starting again in a new place is slightly daunting, but I’m also excited to start this new program in such a beautiful place and making a new home. Number four… As many of you way-faring individuals may understand, a little part of you is left behind everywhere that you call home. So my list is growing…. Highland, MD, Blacksburg, VA, Kasane, Botswana, and now Ashland, OR. We will see what the future holds there!

    This will be my last post of the African ELM sort, not sure if I will continue at all once I relocate, but it is a great way to make myself keep some record of what I am doing (really this is more for me than for you!) so I hope to continue recording my next adventures! Thanks for reading I hope you have enjoyed some of the stories and photos. I want to end similarly to the way I began, with the d365 devotion for today. Appropriately, it is about God’s creation and new beginnings. I am excited to continue sharing my knowledge and enthusiasm about God’s beautiful creations with others in my next endeavors in Oregon!

The sun gives rise to the newness of every day.
The moon and stars provide just enough light
To remind us of tomorrow.

The Spirit of God is at work in every moment,
So walk in whatever light you have,
Giving birth to the promise of God in you.