HOME FOR NOW.

Well, I am home in the states for now.  My flight home was surprisingly effortless. I guess I am getting used to the long flights. I even slept, which was unheard of for me.  But one reason it was easy and pleasant, was flying out with one of the volunteers, who was very special to me.  She has been so great to get to know in her 6 months at Lily.  We ended up having similar flight itineraries, so we flew from Durban at nearly the same time and met up in Jo-berg for a few hours.  We talked and talked, at the end of our Lily Journey together (for the time being). 

We even had a similar layover in London, but didn't quite make the connection with each other.  The photo shows us in Jo-berg together. 

Back to New York City! BAM! The crazy rich, intense life! My first week back was quite hard.  I realized how exhausted, especially emotionally, I was from everything.  Culture shock hit me pretty hard, confusion of life, painful guy things, etc.   I was sick the first week and was surprised at how much I couldn't handle big social things.  But I was welcomed home by some great friends.  I was back to the city I love, as well. Even had a long awaited "10pm Astoria Park Frisbee Throw" with my frisbee buddy, under the lights of the Triboro Bridge. 

Then, the next week, I flew out to Southern California, and have been here visiting my sister and her kids. This has involved well-off suburban American life.  Blond Soccer Moms and soccer games, car-pooling school kids around, cooking for hungry teenagers, mass-quantity grocery shopping, and going to bed at 9:30pm.  But I just LOVE my niece and nephew who are teenagers now.  Last night I even had a moment with my niece, thinking to myself while we talked, 'she is not just my niece whom I need to love, but a she is going to be a good friend in my life'.