Transitions

I'm leaving this country in three short days, so I thought I'd share some simple reflections.  For the past week or so I was really excited to go home and see everyone that I miss, but then last night as I was coming back in a five hour car ride from Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), I felt a pang of sadness about leaving.  The other students here are extremely thoughtful, articulate people who have seen a lot in their young lives.  I don't know when I'll have the chance to see many of them again, if ever.

Well, here are two lists about where I am and where I'm going:

I will miss...

• the friends I've made (who are very different from me)
• hiking in a desert "backyard"
• copious sunlight and lack of humidity
• free time
• hitchhiking
• falafel, fool, hummus, pita
• Jewish holidays
• field trips
• religious and political discussions

I am looking forward to...

• public transportation and trains
• rain
• American work ethic and punctuality
• less secondhand smoke
• no more border crossings or checkpoints or strip searches
• pork (and Chinese food)
• Christian community
• catching up with family and friends

Mind you, I still think I'll get reverse culture shock.  Probably when I see Woodfield Mall and the surrounding area :P