9000 miles.

Dearest bloggers,

I am terribly sorry that it’s taken so long for me to write! I have news: I’m back. Safe and in one whole piece! Can you believe it? Even after 20 hours stuck on two different planes traveling thousands of miles across and over sea and land. Even after getting a cumulative of about three hours of sleep in about 48 hours. And yes, even after the rude lady at the airport told a tearful and hugging mama and me we were in the way.

The latest addition to my life as of Thursday is an iPhone. And earlier whilst I was to be lounging on my parents great new deck writing my blog, I’m instead lounging and texting on my phone! Talk about distraction. And the funny thing is, I was mostly texting my mom, who was in the house. What happened to the good old days when you actually spoke face to face?!

Have no fear, we’ve done a lot of that too. We even went on a shopping lunch date Thursday. And while on the date, I learned something very valuable and worth knowing: iPhone’s are cheaper at Wal*Mart. I started at the AT&T store. Their iPhone 4’s are a hundred bucks. Ok, fine. That’s fair. Then I went to Wally World. Theirs are $88. Yes please! As the guy was ringing up my total including the cover and screen protectors, it came to just under 80 bucks. I found myself quite confused! When I asked, he said the phone was $48. Yahoo and double yes please!

I’ve been home just over a week now and Africa seems thousands of miles away – because it is. And the fact that a week and a half ago I was breathing African air, hugging my Morrisons goodbye, and boarding an airplane bound for Amsterdam is almost beyond my comprehension.

I did enjoy my last week there and found myself quite spoiled. We went to dinner at a most lovely Italian restaurant on Friday night and had the best pizza and cheesy pasta which I shared with Tricia. To top it off we tried the tiramisu. We had had high hopes for it, but in the end, Avery deemed it terrible-misu and we had ice cream.

At dinner they each sweetly shared – or so I thought – something they would remember about me. And as each shared their story, it became a little less sweet and a lot more funny. Tricia’s was when I nearly got attacked by a baboon at Victoria Falls. DJ’s, when I opened my mouth and inserted my foot about boys after dinner at camp one night. Avery had a love for scaring me and will always remember that. Garrett has fond memories of the wimp I was climbing the giant mountain in a skirt the week of our home stay. We ended up laughing a lot and it occurred to me that all of their favorite memories of me were when I was at my weakest. Well, at least somebody can enjoy my weak moments!

On Tuesday I had some sad moments when I almost couldn’t fit all my stuff in my suitcases. DJ came to my rescue! He packed them up after I unpacked them. And I only had to leave a couple things for Amy Ellis’s mom to bring home and ship to me when she comes home in August. Next we had to cram ourselves into a taxi to drive across the city to the airport. I took in some of my last African sights and sounds.

That morning I had been praying because I really wanted to take a bug home to my Uncle David who gave me a really bad time about bugs in Africa before I left. I walked into the bathroom and bam! There was a praying mantis on the inside of the bathroom screen. A bit later Avery found one in the cupboard too. I was torn: praying mantis’ are my favorite bug. I didn’t really want to kill one. On the other hand, it would be kinder to give my uncle a nice bug that I like rather than a gross ugly one. In the end, the nice bug theory won and I had Garrett capture the praying mantis in a Ziploc bag. As we rode to the airport Avery asks, “Naphtali, did you get your bug?” “Oh, no! I forgot it. That means I suffocated one for no reason!” I was sad.

The Morrison’s had sent me with some thank yous’ to mail to friends. Once home, I got them out so I could mail them. They were in a Ziploc. And there he was, the sweet little praying mantis, smooshed, flat, his guts obvious on the envelope. He was stuck to one of the thank you’s. Whoever put the thank yous’ in my suitcase had seen the praying mantis’ bag and thought it was free game. Ha! Well, at least I didn’t have to declare the bug on my customs form. J

I managed to say goodbye to the Morrison’s without tears. I had also put ten dollars into my wallet before I left. Thank goodness I did. They’d raised the airport tax by ten dollars! We didn’t have a scale to weigh my bags, so as I waited to check my bag, I prayed fervently. The weight limit was 23 kilos (50lbs). I hefted my bag onto the scale: 28 kilos. The girl looked at it, said ok, and moments later I was on my way to get stamped out of the country. Thank you, Jesus!

The first flight had a lot of turbulence. It made me feel a tad ill and not very thrilled for my next flight. But survived I did, enjoyed Amsterdam and became even more grateful for the moving floors when I was rushing to my gate to not miss my flight. I felt interrogated when the guy started asking me questions about my bags. And then I had to stand in this strange machine with my hands raised. I guess I did it wrong because I had to do it twice!

Once on the plane I felt a certain amount of excitement that most of the people on it actually knew places in the US that I knew. I sat beside this sweet motherly lady from Seattle. And during the whole flight it was light out outside. So strange flying over nine time zones! I saw Iceland or Greenland I think.

Stepping onto American carpet and on to immigration felt quite nice. I even felt a bit cocky. Like, this is my home. I live here. I’m no longer a foreigner. My passport is for this country! The hardest part was waiting for my bag. I hoped against hope that it wasn’t still in Africa. I consoled myself with the fact that lots of other people were still waiting for their bags too. After it arrived, I smoothly made it through the little customs checkpoint and on to getting to my family. You could put your big bag onto a conveyer belt to be picked up at a later point. I opted for this because I figured, why not let my daddy get it? Hehe, that’s one of the nice things about having your parents get you!

I saw Mama and Gramma as I was about to come up the escalator. Mama met me at the top and we both lost it. Tears and hugs and then the unthoughtful lady saying, “You need to move. People can’t get by you.” She said this as she walked past us. And then I ran over Gram’s toe with my carryon. Oops! What a homecoming! We drove to Panera Bread. I gave hi’s and hello’s to some of my dear friends and family. I got my diploma finally. Then we were off to Ellensburg and my family there. I was running on something until about seven that night and then I crashed.

One of my girlfriend’s came to visit that night and I quite enjoyed catching up with her. Except that every once in a bit I would start to fall asleep while we chatted. Then, when we were outside, I almost fell over. It’s a good thing I was leaning against my parents’ car. There’s tired and then there’s falling over tired. I was the latter in case you hadn’t picked up on that J

After about 36 hours I found myself wishing to not really see anyone, which stinks and makes one feel like a terrible person. I knew there would be a transition time, but not like this. I’m so thankful for my pastor’s wife. She’s traveled before and when I explained things to her, she let me know that it’s ok! I find that it’s easy to give others grace. But myself? No thank you. I’m not very good at it. But as time went on, the desire came about and I’ve had some amazing visits and times with friends that are almost like I haven’t been gone for six months!

One of the most rewarding parts of being gone, once the desire comes back to see people, is the great reunions you have upon your return. I got to meet my new little nephew, Malcolm Israel Olson, on Monday. Right about the instant I saw the tiny little guy perch in his Mama’s (Tessa) arms I fell in love. I smiled and giggled over him most of the time that I was with him and his mama. I fought between love and fear. Holding babies is so scary. What if they break? But every snuggle I had with him was incredibly precious. I had a pleasant day with him and Tessa and his daddy when he got home.

I spent Wednesday with Charae. We met at a coffee shop and I enjoyed my second cup of stateside coffee: – my first being Starbucks for me and Tessa (and eventually Malcolm) on Monday – an icy caramel treat that left me unfortunately disappointed. If you’re gonna give me half ice and half coffee, at least charge me half price!

Charae and I chatted, consignment shop browsed, lunched, and then sat in the green grass of the park for hours. While chatting at the park, we had the interesting opportunity to talk with some Mormon missionary boys. I was so convicted and inspired by Charae’s bold sharing of her love for our Jesus. After they left, we spent some time praying for them. So when you think of it, pray for them too and that the passionate seeds Charae planted will take root and grow in their hearts and minds!

One of my favorite new spots since being home is our new deck. We eat on it. Read on it. One night we watched Blue Bloods on it. My cousin Gabby and I even worked out on it one day! We’ve also been graced with many thunder and rainstorms. Yesterday we even had giant hail. I love it! It’s so good to be home! J

Thank you Jesus for…

!          My awesome Morrison family

!          Good airplane food

!          That life is better than the movies you watch on airplanes

!          Safety over the miles

!          Sweet reunions

!          Meeting my precious new nephew

!          Tea

!          A new toy

!          Answered prayer

!          Being able to text all I want

!          Next week’s vacation at the beach with my wonderful family

Thanks so very much for being my faithful readers and for all your thoughts, comments, and prayers. I do plan to keep on blogging when I can. I’m going to change the name, however, since I’m no longer in the heart of Africa. J Stay tuned friends!

Much love,

Naphtali Kate