A week later.

Well, here I am, sitting in our family room on a mild Sunday afternoon watching hockey. When I look at pictures and think about where I was a little over a week ago, it feels very far away. It is literally so far from where I am physically right at this moment. Which means I am a person divided. My body is here, in Herndon Virginia, but my heart is still in Costa Rica.

It's been a crazy week. Upon arriving at our house and catching up with my family, I discovered that every day and night of the upcoming week was booked. I had told work that I would be back on Monday barring any extreme exhaustion or sickness. But between birthday celebrations (A.J. turned 20 on Tuesday and Gaby girl turned 8 yesterday), church commitments and work, I didn't have much time to breathe. I didn't even have a chance to even unpack until yesterday.

Just like when I arrived in Costa Rica, I knew coming home would be an adjustment. But I wasn't expecting to be so immersed right away. Maybe I was hoping for life to get back to "normal" in stages instead of all at once, I don't know. But I'm not going to lie, it's been a tad overwhelming. I'm not only overwhelmed with adjusting to my weekly activities resuming, but just being back in this country. Being back in the United States with our customs and our way of life, is different. It's a feeling that is hard for me to put into words.

At random moments, my mind likes to remind me of where I was. For example, on Thursday Sean and I went to the Caps game. The tickets came from a family who has kids in the youth group and Drew got me a set of tickets for Christmas. Sitting there in a full Verizon Center, I all of a sudden thought of the nighttime sky in La Bonita. I thought about its serenity and its vastness. The sky at night, if it is clear (which it was almost every night since it's not rainy season), is striking. Again, it's not something that can be easily and properly explained with words. Anyone reading this that has been anywhere remote knows what I'm talking about. The stars, las estrellas, are breathtaking. They are not only SO CLOSE, there are so many of them. Whole constellations can be seen instead of just partial ones. Why this aspect of the trip popped into my head at that given moment, I don't know. I'll probably never know. But it makes me feel sentimental and sad. At the time, it made me feel like I was in a room with FAR too many people. And believe it or not, I had a great time...it was a great game.

Reminders like that happen often. Usually when I look at my watch. Knowing the schedule of the CRMP workday and week, I know what they are up to down there at any given moment. Which is both good and bad. It just makes me wish I was there. And even though I KNOW I'll be going back, it doesn't help my longing to be there right now. It's hard for me to decipher what exactly that means. Yes, it means I love the place and most definitely feel called there, but my draw to Costa Rica is only getting stronger.

My wants and needs to be there aren't going to go away any time soon and I know my love affair with that country isn't over. But until the wheels are down in San Jose again, I will think and pray about it every single day.