All over the map

I've been all over the map (literally and figuratively) - that's what i'll blame my inadvertent blog silence on!

Physically i took a little "tour of the south" the week before Thanksgiving. One of my good friends from high school, Megan lives in South Carolina with her family. I wanted to go see her - it morphed into a little "friend trip" to SC. i was gonna fly, then i did "mapquest" and found out that my sister lived 1/2 way there...clearly this was cause for a change in plans. So, i decided to drive down, stop for a few days in Lexington with my sister, then onto SC to see the friends, and a stop in West Virginia to help my friend Merilee pack up her house, and pick up a moving truck. I know, i know...when i'm on "vacation" i have plenty of time to do stuff like email, and blog - but i don't. everything is just "out of routine" and then, well, i just don't do it.

Figuratively, I've been beginning to "count the cost" of this move to India. For so long i was just excited about it, and it was a long way off...but the list of things to do is getting shorter, and so are the number of days i'll be in the states. The reality of changes in relationships are setting in - and i'm beginning to grieve those changes, at the same time while i'm celebrating the joy of joining the community in Kolkata.

Most recently i was thinking about language school. I'll spend my first 4 months at language school - in a different city away from my community etc. at first i was a bit freaked out by this realization. For so long i've been looking forward to January when i'll get to join the community in K-town, and life will become "normal" again. so to realize that really, my first 4 months will be full of transition was a bit shocking to my system. and then i realized that 4 months in longer than i've been in one place all year - and that as bazaar as it sounds, being in language school will be a very "normalizing" experience for me...even if it is in an asian mega city (not exactly normal for this small town girl). in a lot of ways, language school will be familiar, and "normal." i'll have a set schedule. I'll go to school. I'll study. I am excited about the routine. the pattern. getting up in the morning. going to school. studying. the time i'll have. a season of rest. time to process what the past year has been in my life. to transition into my new world in south asia. to read. to be. to journal. to begin knowing Sheila (another WMF staff member who is moving over at the same time i am).

suddenly, in the midst of piles of stuff to sort, details to take care of, and a somewhat heavy heart in the midst of change...i'm incredibly excited about language school!