About the reverse culture-shock. It was not as shocking as when I returned from India two years ago. I think I was bracing myself for it this time, expecting to feel really out-of-sorts when I got home.
I did abhor my cell phone for the first few days. I just wanted to take life slow, and not feel barraged with lots of noise and busy-ness. After seven months of having a phone that only a few people called me on, and not having easy access to the internet, I didn't feel the need to be constantly in touch with 50 people at once.
I also thought it would be important to take things a little slow, allowing myself to realize where I had just been, and not cut myself off from Africa by plunging into my old daily routine. I'm glad I did that.
The supermarkets were a tad overwhelming. I couldn't bring myself to look above the bottom shelf in the store aisles, afraid that the rows of options and bright packaging would be too much to handle in once glance.
At the same time, I experienced going from the equivalent of Walmart in Kenya to the Kibera slums in just a five-minute walk. So there was shock there also, and it made returning to the U.S., land of consumer abundance, less disorienting.
It's also been so nice having great friends to share about Africa with, and I am still in the process of this! In the process of working on sharing a few pictures with you all, and thanking my very generous financial and prayer supporters for all the faith and excitement you had in my trip.
It's an ongoing process that I can't let distractions snatch away! I have heard some updates from Freetown recently. Mainly, that all the Lighthouse kids went on a week-long retreat and had meaningful reflection and fellowship time. Several of the Lighthouse youth are currently enrolled in a summer school where, the staff reports, the instructors actually TEACH. Hippee! Santigie and Papanie are among the students doing that right now ;) I have a feeling Victoria and Veronica (her twin sister) are not doing as well, so they are in need on continued prayer.
More soon ... hopefully some pictures to share this week! And if you're still reading ... you're awesome! Thanks for being a cool friend :)
2 comments:
I can't even imagine how strange it must be to return to the US after being in Africa. I already feel so guilty for living in a land of such abundance. Going somewhere like that and returning... I don't know how well I'd handle it. This world God created is so big and I've only seen such a small fraction of it. I hope we can at least go on small mission trips in the future.
I feel so small when I think about it all.
I'm so glad you've updated on how things are going! It sounds like the transition is going smoothly, and that makes me happy. I love you, Kat.
Post a Comment