Onward

Well, I've finally come home. A week ago, I was home alone, cleaning the house and doing random tasks, and I found myself comfortable with me again. Somehow, something had clicked. I think it must have been the Spirit moving because I'd been praying about how weird and disconnected I felt from everything, and then suddenly - I was home, physically and mentally/emotionally/spiritually. It feels good, and much healthier.

But, despite the hand warmers and toe warmers I received for Christmas, I'm still generally cold all the time! The acclimatization is taking a bit longer than the homecoming. So I'm fleeing the frigid weather of Indiana and flying south. South to Alabama, to visit my friend, Laura, for a week. We're going to go to the Passion 2011 conference in Georgia for a few days, and I'm going to be a part of her life in the south. I told her I want to eat her favorite southern food. We'll see what I end up getting...

Laura is one of my best friends. We met at a college visit neither of us ended up going to, but we lived close to each other, and we started hanging out. Now she has relocated to Alabama, and she's going to attend med school there and be a kick-butt doctor. Since I haven't seen her in a year, I'm going to go check out her life in the south. Unfortunately, it's not near the beach, and it won't be shorts weather, but 50s are better than 20s (Fahrenheit). Off to another adventure, and looking forward to it! :)

This is a picture from summer 2008, but we look pretty much the same. Laura came to the lake with my family and cleaned the fish we caught for dinner. :)

Spanish withdrawal

I miss Nicaragua. There are a lot of things I miss about it, but Spanish is a huge one right now. While there is a certain relief to being able to say what I want, when I want and not worry so much about miscommunication or how I should say something, I miss living in Spanish.

Yesterday I worked with Dad on a house, and the crew outside siding was speaking Spanish. Although it is cold outside (something I'm still adjusting to: I'm almost always cold), I was eager for Dad to send me to the truck for things just so I could hear some words in Spanish. When one guy told the other to open the "puerta" for me I couldn't stop grinning for a while afterwards. Just knowing there were Hispanics outside made me feel excited. Sadly, I realized that whenever I would go outside, they would stop talking! I'm not sure why, but one time I went back in the house and complained to Dad. So what did he do? Went outside and told them his daughter wanted to speak Spanish with them. Talk about shoving me out of the nest! I hadn't wanted to because I felt embarrassed and shy... But I had to go after Dad told them to expect me. They were from Mexico, and we had a nice little chat. It was good to speak Spanish again, even if they didn't know my country and culture of Nicaragua.

Today, I took another Spanish field trip to the Mexican store in Roselawn, 20 minutes from my house. I looked around at their merchandise, bought Maseca to make my own tortillas, and talked to the cashier a bit. Unfortunately, I had a time schedule so I couldn't sit around and talk very much. But the little reminders of my "home" were nice.

So, anyone who wants to speak Spanish, come on over! I'm desperate!:)

Tourist

When I got to the Chicago airport with Hannah Cooper, it was a strange feeling. We weren't quite ready to be back, and yet we were. I just wasn't sure how to feel, really. Walking to the baggage claim, we were awed by the huge Christmas decoration displays. We took pictures in the concourse (is that the right name for this hallway?) and laughed at all the people in coats. Mind you, the cold of the North is not a laughing matter, as I have been aware of the past several days, but people DO look funny.
Here I am, Saturday night, warming myself by the fire as we cook dinner. The cold is no laughing matter, as I said.

The staring feeling did not wear off. I do a lot of looking around, marveling at everything. I imagine taking my friend Roberto or one of my family members home and showing them all of this. I take a lot of pictures to document my re-entry. I feel restless and can't concentrate on one thing at a time. I hung up my hammock in the basement yesterday and enjoyed a little bit of "home." The adjustment will come. Until then, I'm working on my independent linguistics study and cleaning my room. Oh, and taking advantage of constant internet. :)

The Loose Ends

Just a quick note to let you all know that I am still alive. The time is flying past! The loose ends are not tied, but I'm furiously trying to finish things. I have made projects on my final papers. 2 projects pretty much down, 2 to go. This week I worked at the Nehemiah Center, went to Chinandega for the International Day for the fight against HIV/AIDS (where I put pins into a LOT of ribbons), worked at the Nehemiah Center, worked on homework, went to Roberto's house to hang out yesterday, worked on homework... You get the picture. I'm trying to soak up every little bit I can, but the balance is difficult. I want to be with my friends from Dordt, especially the Hannahs. I want to hang out with Roberto and other Nicaraguans I'm friends with. I want to spend time with my family. I want to finish my projects for the Ezra Team. And I have to do homework. Please pray that I will have the discernment to balance everything well and make the right time decisions. Right now, I need to practice our final presentation with the Hannahs, so I am going to stop typing about how to spend my time and actually go spend it doing something! :) Peace out!