In 24 hours (provided things go as planned) I'll be on a plane beginning my descent into O'Hare. While I know the statement is true, it doesn't seem real. This is how I felt the night before coming here, too. Until I'm on that plane, it won't sink in.
Part of the issue is this is my world now, and it has been for the last five months (wow, I've been here 5 months already...I remember when the count was at 5 weeks and THAT seemed like a long time). It's my home...in a way. It's weird to talk about home now, because am I talking about my home here (the Ranch), my parents' house in the States (my "home" for the next two weeks), or the residence that I actually own (well, have a mortgage on...). In some ways, I'm looking forward to the next two weeks. I really miss my friends and family, and I'm excited to see you all again. In other ways, I'm kind of dreading the trip. I know reverse culture shock is going to be brutal. I've experienced it before when I've been gone for a week or two. Thinking through this...I haven't driven a car in 5 months, I haven't purchased things in dollars in that long either (well, not counting purchases made via Amazon or iTunes), my shopping and interactions out and about have been completed in Spanish, church has been in Spanish, and everywhere I look there are mountains. Yes, there will be culture shock. So my apologies ahead of time when I start to shut down on you all. It will happen, I know this already. My two weeks at home are already mostly booked. I am excited to see you all, I promise [and I've had the countdown going on facebook to prove it].
Today was fun. I went into the city with one of my students and her family. She was in a Christmas production at her church and invited me to go along. We went in a little early, had dinner, and then went to the church. It was a good time to practice my Spanish, and they enjoyed practicing their English (or at least that's what they told me). The production was all in Spanish, and I understood it all, which was encouraging (it does help when they're quoting familiar scripture, but I understood the rest of it as well). It was a little disconcerting to hear familiar carols being done in Spanish. But other than giving me another great opportunity to practice my Spanish, now it does feel a little more like Christmas is coming. Understand, I don't have TV access here, so I've missed out on all the commercials, sales, and other hype that normally surrounds me back in the States. We've been out of school now for 4 weeks (though I have been busy with school related stuff, just not necessarily classroom teaching). So the fact that Christms is in a week and a day hasn't really hit me [or a week, a day and an hour in this time zone...].
I should probably get off the internet and finish packing. I am doing a final load of laundry...not that most of it is going with me...not the right season for it...but it is always nice to come home to clean clothes and a clean room. So that's my project before going to bed...
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