Time, Time, Time

**Sorry I've been away - internet has been down! Back in action now!**

Is everyone else in disbelief like I am that Christmas is less than one week away?  And the year 2010 - two thousand and TEN - is upon us.  It's so hard to believe.  Equally difficult to comprehend is the fact that Ricks students and staff have officially finished 3 out of 6 marking periods.  Wow, time is flying.
Although we have technically finished half of our marking periods, we are not quite at the half way point of our time here.  Second semester is actually about 4 weeks longer.  Combine that with a month off for Christmas break and a couple weeks here in June after we're done teaching, and we've got about 6 more months in Liberia.  I have moments when I feel like the next 6 months will be long, and moments when I feel like I will blink and then find myself on a plane headed home.  I know I will have moments when I feel both of these things, but I also know this will all be over before I know it. 


The other day a friend asked me if I was counting down the time until I leave or if I was feeling like it was all passing by too quickly; honestly, the answer is both.  There are things I miss about home, from the superficial (air conditioning, favorite foods) to the more meaningful (people, friends' weddings, holidays with family, etc.).  And there are so many things around me that remind me of the "countdown until home": the number of vitamins I have left, the academic calendar, the money in the bank... all these things make it hard for me not to be aware of the "countdown."



At the same time there are many things I love here and know I will miss dearly.  I feel like we are finally coming to a place where we are not visitors, not outsiders, but becoming more a part of a community, specifically the Ricks community.  We are spending more time laughing with people, understanding one another more clearly, hearing more and more stories, and sharing more of our own stories.  The other day we were talking with one of our friends and he started to refer to us as "the guests" (how all American groups that pass through Ricks are referred to), but then he stopped himself.  He said, "No, I have learned you are not guests; you are Liberian American white teachers."  I love this - and this is indeed what I am. 


As I bid farewell to the first semester and look toward the next 6 months, I am grateful for all this experience in Liberia has already brought me and look forward to all that this journey holds for me in the future - both the things I expect and the things that will completely surprise me.