The In-Between

I officially have less than 2 months left here in Liberia at Ricks Institute.  It's hard to believe how quickly the last 8 months have gone by.  It feels like just yesterday I was home in FL trying to figure out what I needed to pack and how to make it all fit in my two suitcases.  Yet here I am, mid-April, done with 5 of 6 marking periods for the school year.

As my time in Liberia is winding down, I find myself facing a familiar dilemma I like to call "the in-between."  This problem is one I have faced many times in the past and know I will face many more times in the future.  Basically, the dilemma is that I am in one place that I love with people that I love doing something that I love, but I'm also preparing and looking forward to being in a new place, meeting new people, and doing new things that are all tremendously exciting in a completely different way.

Liberia has become a new home to me.  Many of the friends I've made here joke that Ann Elizabeth and I are real Liberian women; there are times we know directions to a place that others don't, we've become fairly proficient in understanding and occasionally even speaking Liberian English, and we notice the subtle changes in weather unique to a tropical climate.  I've heard several people who have spent time in Liberia talk about "catching the bug"; once you come to Liberia, something about it stays with you and changes you and holds your heart so you can never forget this place or fully leave it.  Thinking about saying goodbye is tough, and I know I will be incredibly sad to leave this place and especially the people I've come to know here in LIB.

But, I've also got some pretty exciting stuff on the not-too-distant horizon.  My sister will be getting married two weeks after I return home, I'm working for Passport St. Louis for one week trying out a new kind of camp, I get to spend time with my family at the beach, I'm hoping to make a trip up to Winston-Salem, I'll go to a retreat for all Student.Go and Passport workers in Birmingham... and then on top of that I get to move to a new city, make all new friends, and begin the next 4-5 years of my life as a PhD student (for those who didn't see the Facebook post, I'm going to Vanderbilt in Nashville, TN!).  I've heard nothing but great things about the program I will be in, Vanderbilt, and Nashville as a whole.  This is something I've been working towards and planning for over several years, so the fact that it is now about 4 months away is so exciting!

I think this feeling of being between things - still clinging to one place while looking forward to moving on to the next - can be summed up by a question people have been asking me a lot lately; "So, Holly, how does it feel to be going home in less than 2 months?"  My answer reflects "the in-between"; "I'm equal parts sad and excited.  Sad to leave Liberia, excited to be going home."  In the meantime, I'm doing my best to embrace the present and to take in every moment of these last two months in Liberia.  I know I will be sitting Stateside in no time, so I'm trying not to wish a way a single moment of what remains of my Liberian adventure.  A lot can happen in two months, and I'm excited to see what these last 2 will bring!