Bicycle

     Home. Finally. After thirteen months and one week, I'm finally back in the place where I began. It's now been a week since I arrived on my home soil and it almost feels like I never left. But before I get into that, I should recap a bit of what's been going on since I left Ukraine. Yeah, I should have gotten on this writing thing sooner. I've been busy. Is that a good enough excuse?

Quickie

I'm finally back on US soil. More to follow after I get some dinner and sleep.

Mama, I'm Comin' Home

     The day is here. I really don't know what to say so forgive me if this sounds like a lot of rambling. There are a lot of emotions running through my head right now. Some of them are familiar. Two years ago when I was returning home from my first English camp, I felt a lot of the same things. Anger, loss, sadness, frustration. Just writing this is tough. I know it'll take a lot longer than a day to get over it. If past experiences are any indication, I will not ever feel the same.

Back In Time

     I wish I could go back in time and tell myself about everything that would happen before I left Ukraine. I might have been more diligent about studying Russian or more focused on taking every opportunity to help. I'm writing this in between final cleaning and packing on Wednesday. I doubt I'll get much time later to do it.

Goodbye Ruby Tuesday (Updated)

     Two days. Less than that actually as of the time I'm writing this. That's how long until I board my plane and wing my way to the States. But that doesn't mean things are slowing down yet. I'll be going, going, going, until Thursday morning. (Updated: two photos)

Lovin' Every Minute of It

     Thirteen months. That's how long it's been since I left the States last year. It finally is starting to feel like that amount of time. Probably because I'm standing at the edge of a new phase of my life. I can't say that I've loved every minute of it. Mainly because of the difficulties along the way. But it's certainly been worthwhile.
      I'm actually slacking a bit because thirteen months was yesterday (August the 25th). But it's in service of a good cause. Liberty followup, spending time with people from Big City and residency things. There have also been some other things happening this week.

Takin' Care of Business

     Occasionally over the past year, trying to think of something to write here has felt like business. It wasn't always fun like a hobby. Sometimes it felt like doing taxes or homework. Usually that happened when I was too busy, tired or distracted to feel creative. Coming up with a good post on a regular basis, for someone who hasn't done that sort of thing before, can be a chore. I find that again I'm writing a post that feels like it's "just business." And that's not because I'm finishing this three days after starting it. Standing on the sub-two-week mark, I'm thinking more and more about the things at home. But there is more to my life at the moment than moping around the apartment waiting for my flight to leave.