I've been back for a while now …

And the question I am still getting is 'how was your trip?' Word to the wise - it was not a trip, and that is too broad of a question to answer. I am really happy that the 30 second window that I was made aware of (the average person will give you thirty seconds to talk about your trip before they lose interest) hasn't come into play with anyone who I would want to share with for a longer period of time. 

Overall, I feel like there hasn't been any culture shock. The hardest part about being here is missing what was back there: my Ivoirian friends, my JourneyCorps friends, the food, the pagnas, the moto taxis, and the sun. I don't miss the internet connection, the distance from all my US friends, and the heat, though. 

So, four weeks ago, I landed in Denver with Jamie. I spent the first ten days with her at WorldVenture Headquarters sleeping in, eating sandwiches and kashi pizzas, and getting my mind wrapped around recruiting. When I got to my parent's house in Connecticut, it was a mad rush of three trips to Boston for job interviews, some recruiting, buying a car once I was offered the job, finding summer clothes appropriate for the US, and visiting friends and supporters in the area. I barely had a chance to sit down for five minutes and think! Thank the Lord He provided me with a job so early in the summer (I will be teaching French II, IV, and V Cinema at Lexington High School near Boston) which gave me peace about buying a car with little financial backing. 

Last Thursday I left for DC to visit friends, dance a bunch (3 nights in a row!), visit my sending church, and boy was it a whirlwind of friends! I am sorry to those of you I didn't visit while I was there. I was so booked! Next time, I promise. Sunday after church, I made a grueling 12 hour drive from DC to Jacksonville, FL to visit my best friend and her baby boy (and her husband and a mutual friend) and meet with a church for recruiting. I stayed with a really cool family which reminded me how much I love meeting new people and building relationships. I continue to pray that God would use these experiences to encourage those people towards Christ. Finally, I made the last huge leg of the trip to Panama City Beach, FL where I will rest a little until my North Carolina trip June 4-14. I love my new car, but boy am I sick of driving! I am so blessed to be staying 30 minutes from my boyfriend in his friend's house who is gone for the summer. This will be a much needed chance for me to rest, catch up on my sea air, plan more recruiting adventures, catch up with friends via email, and work on projects that need finishing before the school year begins. 

So this blog is more newsy than reflection-y, but I guess that's what you get from a US blogger instead of an Ivoirian one!

A funny Ivoirian slip … I was at my eye doctor's who gave me some drops to put in my eyes. He said to take one drop of each morning and night. So I asked for a pen and made the slashes on either side of the box like the pharmacists do in RCI. The doc looked at me funny for putting the slashes down until I explained that for illiterate people, the easiest reminder of how many pills to take when is a slash or circle per pill spaced across the side of the box (for example, one slash on the left side means one pill in the morning, three on each edge and in the middle means take 3 pills with breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Guess who never forgets her drops!