I’m Back!

(9/21/19)

Thriving? Not exactly. I’m not in a B zone, I’m in the reverse culture shock zone. Most of the squad was beyond excited to leave Africa. If you read my BLOG you would know that I LOVED Africa, literally every moment…the culture, the food, the people, the countries… It felt like home with all the relationships I made. I did not want to leave and cried. Getting away from the mosquitoes had been nice, but Romania (Europe) is a step closer to home…a step closer to America…a step closer to the culture of independence and consumption.

Getting sick hasn’t helped my cause either. After breakfast on the plane to our layover in Germany, I felt sick. There were a bunch of others who also had the eggs on the flight and were not feeling well either. For me, it led to stomach cramping, that yucky sulfur egg burp, nausea to the point where unless I was laying down, I thought I was going to vomit, and eventually diarrhea (sorry for the morbid details…life on the race!). Thankfully, by the time the latter two symptoms started occurring, we were in our hostel for the night and I could just lay in bed.

Upon arrival to the hostel, most people went out to buy new clothes and eat at the chain restaurants (McDonalds, Starbucks, if they had chick fil a almost every racer would have been there!). We rode in an electric car. There were stoplights and security cameras. There were hot showers that stayed hot the entire time. When we arrived at our host location, we had a washer, dishwasher, and could drink the water from the sink! The grocery store was a five-minute walk-a grocery store that was much like Walmart. There is choice upon choice upon choice (OVERWHELMING!). The Wifi and data is faster than any other country yet. I miss the simplicity of the small stores, the fruit markets where you learn the name of the owner and develop a relationship.

My worldview has changed. My home is more than just the house I live in. It’s my feelings, relationships, routines, and predictable patterns of interactions. I’ve read that the more comfortable you were abroad, the harder the transition back home will be…and going to a country that looks and feels like home (besides the slight language barrier and familiarity of family and friends), has attributed to this slight reverse culture shock.

Our ministry schedule is pretty relaxed this month and I’ve already been able to spend some good, quality time with the Lord. I labeled my feelings as well. We found a volleyball net and made court lines out of the grass clippings. I’ve gone for a run every other morning. We helped with the homeless shelter on Monday and got to know the host a little bit better. I made some chili in our kitchen (I love spending time in the kitchen). God knew I needed some familiarity and routine to help kick these “symptoms” out of my mind and system.

(9/25/19)

Thankfully these feelings only lasted a few days, but it’s a glimpse of what’s to come when integrating back into America. I’m thankful for two months in Europe so the process home is a little easier. But that’s to worry about later. For now, I’m back. I’m ready to go. Let’s rock and roll! Pitesti needs some love and I’m ready to go all in.