Last Post from Liberia

It feels impossible to explain how strange it is to be writing my last post from Liberia.  My head knows that this will be my last - for this time around at least - but the rest of me is struggling to grasp that reality. 

It's about 2:30pm right now here... as I go through this day, I keep reminding myself to soak it all in, because it's the last of each thing.  Enjoy the walk up the path to the school.  Enjoy this meal in the dining hall.  Enjoy the sound of the rain falling.  Enjoy the visits to the house from friends and neighbors. 

Enjoy it.  Remember it.  Appreciate it.  Don't forget it.

By the time I write my next post I'm sure this will all have set in more surely as I will actually be away from Ricks.  For now it's hard to shake the feeling that I'm just taking a short trip - a weekend away - and that I'll be back soon.  I have every intention of coming back one day, although I do not know when or in what capacity or for how long or who I will come with.  But I know that my return is not imminent.  It will be at least a year, likely more, before I can set foot on the soil of Liberia again. 

My emotions are mixed, for sure.  There's the obvious sadness of saying goodbye to the people who have been my family and the place that has been my home for the last 10 months.  There's a certain amount of curiosity, almost worry, about whether and how the things we have begun here at Ricks will continue.  There is great hope and expectation that the next time I see Ricks, and Liberia in general, it will look much different than it does now, in a really great way.  There is some apprehension about re-entering American culture after spending a year in a culture that is vastly different in so many ways. 

So it is with a heart and head swimming with all these thoughts and emotions that I prepare to say goodbye. 

Words are not sufficient... but I was listening to "Small Town Jericho" by Sugarland last night and I thought it appropriate for this occasion:

"It's hard to say goodbye,
Cause baby it's a good life.
Goodbye to memories that I saved
Goodbye to all the friends I made
Goodbye to all the home I'll ever know..."

And with that, there's nothing left to say but, "Farewell!  I'll catch you on the other side of the Atlantic."