Airplanes... (and sail boats)

I like airports, particularly the arrivals gate. I love the enthusiasm and the excitement that is there. I love the feeling I get in my stomach as my plane touches down in Fredericton, the feeling that there are people on the other side of that wall waiting for me and I can't wait to see them.

I like being home. The reverse culture shock is wearing off a bit and I'm getting to do things that I love. I love being able to walk up and see my family. I like being able to buy books in English and buy clothes that are quality and have the sales people speak to me. I also love catching up with people I haven't seen in a while.

I went to Saint Andrews yesterday with one of my sisters, grandmother and one of my aunts. It was so much fun. I love the way the ocean smells and the feeling of smallness I get when I stand in front of it; like I'm just a small piece of a giant puzzle. I love the boats and the waterfront and the little shops and friendliness of people.

I love getting to sit around with my friends and talk and laugh and act like we just haven't had thousands of miles separate us. I love that distance never really seems to come between the best of friends.

I watched my littlest sister graduate on Friday and was incredibly proud. She also looked beautiful at the prom. I remember graduating high school and being feeling scared and brave all at the same time. I'm not sure that feeling ever goes away, even as you grow.

I sometimes forget how funny my sisters are, how vibrant my best friend's personality is, how sweet and wonderful the girls I used to work with are; how much I love listening to my mother play the piano and how much I love just being able to stick my head into my dad's office to say hello.

It's nice to be home to remember, to have a break, see people and to get hugs.

Truth....

Here's a round up of all the things I've learnt this year:

-Ants are carnivorous beasts that will eat anything!
-Cockroaches like to share your shower.

-Blondes will always get hit on.
-I prefer to get hit on in a foreign language because I can't understand it.

-Spray sunscreen is great.
-And awful.

-If you ask for patience God will make sure you earn them.
-If you want to show love He'll find the kid that needs it the most.

-You have to live the life you've got and let go of stuff that doesn't matter anymore.
-God might let one dream die but He'll provide you with others; better ones.

-Never say never because you'll end up doing what ever you said never too.
-Some times the best expectations are to have none. That way you always get to be pleasantly surprised.

-The best friends can be the unexpected ones.
-MSN/Hotmail/Skype/Facebook all can help strengthen relationships.

-The strangest people will bless your day.
-You learn an awful lot about your character when you move to a place like Suriname; good and bad. You also get the opportunity to develop and grow.

This hasn't been the simplest year but it has been a blessing, a challenge and one of the best times of my life. Here's to the next.

Erase/Rewind...

Suitcase, boxes all
spread out over my floor
moving sure does suck

That little haiku was brought to you by the fact that I hate packing. I could swear I just blogged about being a horrible, procrastinating packer. And when I looked back I realized that it's been almost a year since I (started to) packed my bags to come down here and now I'm packing them up to go visit family for summer break. I'm pretty excited to be back in Canada and to get a bunch of hugs.

Stayin' Alive...

Yes, I am still alive. I've just got swept away by life and let blogging get away from me for awhile.

May flew by. It was a blur of concerts, plays and art nights. It was a pretty fantastic month though. I managed to make an entire life size fairytale mixed media piece in about three for art night. I had so much "help" as well. ["Teacher I don't want to colour anymore", "Teacher are we done yet?".]

The Spring Concert might have been one of my highlights (and not because I was kind of the director). It was one of my favourite things because it was amazing to watch people come together and help. My coworkers are amazing and kind and generous and have such wonderful talents and I am so blessed by them. I also got help (real this time) from high school students who kept asking if I needed anything or who were volunteered to help me. It was an awesome time and the kids were amazing and cute and funny. And the whole thing is on video!! (Another of those amazing people did this!)

We saw a play put on by the drama class, it was fun and nicely ad libbed.

Got a little wet, because when does it not rain here?

Painted faces at a carnival.

And I wrote a paper. The English classes had an assignment to see if they could summarize their entire year and I gave it a try. Harder then it sounds. It took me 2 days, 10 different beginnings and about 30 Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams songs. Thunder Road is on permanent repeat in my brain. I've decided to paste the conclusion here, because my year is winding down and I'm heading back to visit Canada soon. So here are some of my brief thoughts on the past year:

Randomly, I can only write to classic rock ( which is a cliche that entirely my father's fault), so as I was writing this paper I had Summer of '69 playing and that one particular line stood out. "If I had the choice, yeah I'd always wanna be there". I might not have made the choice to come to Suriname, but I made the choice to follow where God called and He brought me here. Looking back over this paper I realize that if this were my choice, I would make the same one every time. I would always choose this path, this country, and this life. I would always choose to end that relationship, get on that plane and let God change my life for the better. I have been so blessed by following God here and letting him lead me. The next line of the song is "Those were the best days of my life", and maybe the song is right, that these are some of the best days of my life.