5 months later

It's midnight the morning of December 12th.  In 72 hours I will be on a plane heading to Atlanta then onto Ohio to celebrate Christmas with family.  I fly back to Brasil in mid January a few days before school starts.  It is very strange to think about the time 5 months ago when I was first heading to Brasil.  Before I began working with my students, before I had a maid, before I met all the wonderful people I have been working with.

The past 5 months have been an incredible journey and I will miss being in my own apartment and having Maria clean my clothes and do the dishes.  I will miss talking with Teresa  and Kevin everyday about students and popping in to see Sue and Sabrina as well as randomly seeing Clarissa, Ashleigh, Emily, Kristi, and Yakshi in the hallway.  I will miss meetings with Kenya. I will miss hanging out with Danielle on the weekend and going over to Mark's for football.

I will not miss watching TV on my computer instead of an actual TV.  I will not miss the lovely bugs flying all over the place. I will not miss having to translate in my head before I start talking and still sounding like a dork. I will not miss cooking dinner for one.  I will not miss my night porteiro - I will miss Jackson (day porteiro).  I will not miss Math class. I will not miss my bed in Brasilia - soooo excited to go back to my king size bed.

It's very odd to begin to dwell on how my life has changed in the last few months and even odder to reflect on how it has stayed the same.

I'm nervous about living at my parents house for the next weeks and not having my own place to go to. We'll see how that goes.

I'm excited to visit friends and family and want to get updates on their lives.  I'm excited to go to mass at OSP again.

I'll keep you updated!
Meghan