As I sit in the hotel room thinking about the past few months of preparing to leave I am surprised at how quickly the day has come. Tomorrow morning my parents will be dropping me off at the airport and I will be starting my new journey.
The past two months has brought many goodbyes. Some have been easier than others. I have said goodbye, see you later, best wishes, and any number of other farewell phrases. There have been many laughs and many tears but one thing has been common throughout all of the goodbyes. Everyone is sad knowing they will not see me for 2 years, but they are also proud of me and wishing me well in what is to come. I feel the same emotions in return. I am sad knowing that I won’t see those I love and care about, I won’t receive hugs from family I have known my whole life or laugh with friends I’ve made over the years. But I also know that they will be cheering me on, praying for me and even if I am not with them physically, they will be just a phone call or skype call away (when I have service that is).
It’s weird looking at the big picture and realizing that 27 months really isn’t very long. My past 4 years of college have flown by. Yet as I am hugging my parents, brother, sister-in-law, family and friends goodbye one last time before my departure, it feels like much longer than it really is. As I try to keep perspective and realize that 27 months will go quicker than it seems at the moment, I will leave this post short and sweet. So for now, in a phrase I learned recently, Tutaonana Mungu akipenda (We will see each other again, God willing).