Last time we talked, I was writing from the desk in my dorm room at the university. This time, I write to you from my desk back in Illinois… I admit that it’s not quite the same.
The last 5 remaining days I had in Russia were filled with goodbyes, packing, wrapping things up with the university, and lots of “this is the last time I will do this” moments. Saying goodbye to all who became a part of my Russian family was just as hard as it had been when I said goodbye to my real family back home. My goodbyes with girlfriends, Vika and Natasha, were sad but thankfully not filled with a bunch of crying. I was not so fortunate when leaving the Hinsons. I made up for my dry eyes with them. My last day in Khabarovsk I attended my church picnic and baptism service in the Amur River. It was an awesome way to finish my trip. I thought it was special to have everyone from church there to say goodbye too. I’m not going to go into much detail with all of the goodbyes… For one thing that could get a little monotonous for you to read… And another is that I’m choking up just thinking about it. So we’ll just skip around a little bit.But.... here are some pictures of the baptism and me with one of the pastors sons...
Travelling for two days to get back home was not as fun as flying usually is for me. I didn’t sleep much at all and I just wanted to get home. It honestly felt like I was in the Twilight Zone or something between my two lives… Slightly creepyish. When I saw the welcome sign to the US in the LA airport I started singing “God Bless America” for some strange reason. When the customs people welcomed me back home I took it in a very literal way and thanked them very graciously. During my different layovers in the US I just watched and listened to people speak in English. The outlets and other random things caught my attention like I was a little child in some strange place. I wanted to hug the first black person that I saw in Korea… He was a rather large and strong looking man so I contented myself with giving him an imaginary hug. In LA I could hear two women having a conversation but I got very frustrated when I couldn’t remember what language it was… Its not Russian.. not English… its not Chinese… or Japanese… WHAT else could it possibly be?! Spanish. DUHhhhh. I searched the LA airport until I found a restaurant to eat real pizza. I was rewarded by some amazing cheese pizza with none of the weird stuff Russians put on theirs. But yeah, I’d say I got about 6 hours sleep in the two days of travelling and then my sister wouldn’t let me sleep till like 10 pm that first night back home. It was a very cruel thing to do…
I had a week to get unpacked and catch up on sleep before packing again and heading to be a counselor at youth camp. It was a long, hot week but worth it. I had about a week to unpack from camp and do some job hunting and fall semester to do lists before packing again for vacation with the fam. We visited family in Iowa and Minnesota. So now I’m back home again…. Sick of packing/unpacking and ready to get things rolling. This will be my last semester at the community college in town and then I will be at ISU in the spring.
I have about 2,600 pictures from my trip to Russia… try and scrapbook all of those… It was SUCH a privilege and honor to live in Russia for 5 months. To be able to meet the people I did, see the things and places, to learn and to become a part of so much. Even though it was a short time and it hurt to say goodbye… Thank you God for giving me that opportunity to go. I am so incredibly blessed. I pray that I will never forget my days in Russia.
Like I said, I am excited for where God has me TODAY. The last thing that Amanda Hinson said to me, as she was literally in the doorway on her way out, was that she felt like God was saying, “That when you are boarding that plane for home, that that is when your adventure is just beginning.”
Thank you to all of you for reading my blog, praying for me… I will continue to post but don’t expect any stories about my daily life in Russia because I don’t live there anymore:) Although I’m sure I’ll mention it once in awhile and maybe tell stories I didn’t tell before.
You have amazed me.
Lest I forget,
Leah
No comments:
Post a Comment