Back to my real Life

I really wanted to post a few more things about my trip here, but now I find myself just itching for more time to do things. Anything. To shop, to sit with my new lifelong friends, to speak to people, to laugh with people and to empathize with people. To eat. A lot. To Live.

Today was my last day with the whole group. Tomorrow, I leave with two other girls for Tel Aviv. I'll spend a day there, then fly home to that Carolina blue sky that I have actually missed. It was a great last day, albeit a sad one. And its not actually over. Maija and I are both still awake at 5:04am, laying in bed with computers that aren't ours, waiting for 8:00 to roll around so the others will wake up. It's been a long day, but it probably won't end any time soon.

This morning I ran around town to do some ridiculously late souvenir shopping. Gotta leave with something. It was nice kind of running around on my own for a bit too. I stopped by a shop where we'd made friends with the owner. Costandi and I sat and had tea, talked a bit about politics, then realized his sister lived in Wilmington (crazy!). I ran into a few food markets where we've been buying groceries since we've been here. It was nice, it felt cozy to know my way around, make regular stops at all my favorite places where people had come to recognize me and I to love seeing them.

Eventually I ended up at home, where the girls commenced to have a "Girl Party" with our local Palestinian girl friends. It was fun - our first time seeing them with bare arms and beautiful hair! We spent hours in the kitchen preparing for our potluck, and when the boys finally came over, we sat down and had a proper feast. It was like Thanksgiving. I had a lot to be thankful for. When the Palestinian girls left, I cried. Yeah ... I do that sometimes.

We all then headed over to the Wall and painted our mark on it. A great picture, if I do say so myself, of Palestinians prancing up a staircase towards a doorway that leads to the other side. I was pretty darn proud of us.

We then went to The Tent, a bar/shisha/food place where we just chilled out for a few hours. We were exhausted, but we laughed - I started to miss everyone even though they were right in front of me.

Back at home, we spent a couple hours cleaning and getting our research surveys in order. We collected over 500 CBCLs! That is pretty impressive. Proud, again.

Then I packed. And now, I write.

I will really miss these people, this place. I say that every time I finish a program or a trip, usually after 2 months away. But something was different this time. This place is exhausting. There is so much to see, to hear, to do, to LEARN. So much to learn. I can't possibly do it in one month, or a year, or several. The group I traveled with was amazing. All from different countries, including this one. I learned so much about them, about me. I learned - a lot.

I am too tired to keep writing. I will salvage 2 hours of sleep before I continue on a mad rush tomorrow to get things done. Then, its back to the other side.