home

As I am typing these words, I am standing the exact same location as when I wrote my first blog entry.  I am standing in the same apartment in the same spot.  I look around my meager little apartment and nothing has changed since I left it six months ago (Well, besides the house plants.  They will need some t.l.c. to return to their once glory.).  Everything is exactly as I left it.  Now, as I stand here, the only thing that has changed is me.  I apologize for being so Shakespeare-ish, but nothing could've prepared me for what was ahead and nothing can bring me back to the girl that stood in this spot six months ago.  The mystery of adventure and unknown has a way of doing that. 

Since my last entry (only!) six days ago, I said all my "until next time" hugs and got ready to transition from one way of life to another.  It seems like a whirlwind of activity that took place and I cannot believe that I even had any time to sleep in between.  Although I know they won't be the last "until next time" hugs, the closing of one chapter in life produces lots of pensive thinking.  While trying to enjoy every minute of the last few day with those who have become my "adopted" family and friends, the heart knows to ache for the ending of something so indescribable.  It is indescribable for many reasons, but I will not get ahead of myself.

To end the last days of my adventure in Israel, I was thankful (yet, pensive for the ending...) for some great moments.  Those great moments left a sweet savor in my mind.  From a "Goodbye Celebration" Party, the beach at sunset at Caesarea, going up to Rosh Hanikra, going down to Tel Dor, eating my last shawarma and devouring all the fresh passion fruit and mango my tummy could handle, the ending of the adventure proved full.  All of that last bit of adventure was an overload to me, but I am glad for experiencing it.  Those last days held the "last" of many things.

Goodbye Celebration Party

A peek into what a car ride looks like with eight passengers in a small Israeli vehicle!

 Tel Dor

The view from Rosh Hanikra looking South down the Israeli coast.  Rosh Hanikra is the Northern most point before Lebanon.

The beach and aqueduct at Caesarea 

 

When I woke up on the morning of my departure, I rolled over and looked out the window. Yep, it was sunny again.  Just like every other day I lived there.  Sunny. Always sunny.  I never had to wonder what the weather was going to be like.  I looked at my suitcases laying on the ground and thought about what this day held and what it meant.  In life, anyone can give you advice on what to do or not what to do.  They can tell you about what an experience is going to be like, why to try something, why you should give a person a second chance, why it's a good idea to save your money, and why not to wear a spandex romper.  Opinions of others can give us insight and direction for a positive or negative way to think or live.  But NOTHING can prepare us for the moment when we experience whatever "it" is for ourselves. 

The life adventure I had in Israel made Israel a new home for me.  I cannot describe it in words, but it did.  A home is where you feel safe and welcome.  Home is where you feel accepted and you can let your guard down.  Home is where people like you.  Israel will forever be a home to me.  The memories, friendships, and lessons I learned there have made it that way.  I learned to love a people, their customs and culture as if they were my own.  My heart beat with all the fellow Israeli's when terrorism threatened our lives.  I mourned and grieved the loss of the innocent during Operation Protective Edge.  I will never forget the sound of the Code Red Siren, feeling the power of rocket and Iron Dome explosions, and running for my life to a real bomb shelter.  How can this make it my home, you may ask?  Well, here is a question for you: How can it not?  I grew in grace for others and had to face areas of my own selfishness.  I fell in love with people who I look at as if they were my own flesh and blood.  Daily, I as I taught, I watched four children grow in their love for learning.  I saw them gain confidence and value (and awesome cursive skills).  The sweet savor of experiences made an unlikely and unique adventure feel like home.  Israel will always be my "other home", as it is filled with family, friends, loved ones, strangers, foods, and customs that I can proudly say I love.  That is the best I can do when trying to describe the indescribable.

When I got on the plane to leave for my other, other home,  I tried to figure out my navigational/directional bearings.  When living in Israel, I lived in Savyon.  Savyon is less than ten miles from the airport.  I thought that if I could figure out where I was maybe I could see my Israeli home one more time during take-off.  That idea was well and good until the plane began down the runway.  At that moment, I looked out the window at the land that I had fallen in love with.  As the plane gained speed, my heart filled with a brokenness that I can only liken to a loss of someone or something irreplaceable.  The indescribable of how Israel affected my heart began to well up in my eyes (Warning: transparent, raw emotion to follow).  Even now, as I type, the memory of that same feeling is producing those same emotions.  I didn't care what others thought as I sat in 33A and cried.  Though my tears, I watched Israel get smaller.  No one plans to cry, it just happens.  I can't describe why I cried, I just did because of all that I was watching go.

 The last moment of Israeli sun....

 Check out the looooong line I had to wait in.  Just kidding, I'm the one at counter with no line.

Arriving to my other, other home, I knew a new adventure awaited me.  I don't know what that will be.....but when do we??  I do not look at my time in Israel as being over.  It is not over because a piece of it will be forever with me.  Life adventures are never over.  They are forever woven into the stories of our lives.  My story continued and continues on as I embraced my family and friends back at my other, other home.  While it all seems a little surreal, I can't help but be grateful for the people, memories, moments, and "homes" I have in two countries.  

The below pictures are of some of the beauty that greeted me back at my other, other home.  There is nothing quite like it.

Hypericum Berries and wild Himalayan Blackberries

Homecoming moments with Aunty!

Final and on-going thoughts on life in general