let's recap

hey there. it's been awhile. nice to see you.

i've been meaning to write since i stepped back on american soil. needless to say, that's been a month in coming. let's rewind a bit.

last real post i wrote, we were in the midst of stuvac and going into our last handful of days in sydney. i did indeed spend them with my australian friends, and came away with some great photographs that i'm still trying to figure out how to organize. (if i open up a flikr or picasa account, i'll let you know.)

that last night, i got no sleep. i stayed up late talking to a friend, and spent the rest of the night packing and getting things together. before i knew what was going on, i was being rushed into a cab that would take my housemates and i to meet the ASC group at wesley. from there it was a teary ride to the airport, listening to music given to me by a good friend and trying to ignore the sad faces around us. we were told on the bus that two of our group would not be coming to new zealand with us. it was weird. my whole life was packed into two bags and a carry-on. i was wheeling them through sydney international airport. what? we're going to new zealand? why? really, we're going?
before long, though, we were all smiling and laughing. our group was spectacular at keeping our spirits up and finding the best in things. i am so blessed by the friends i made in that group.

we arrived in auckland and settled in briefly to one of the nicest YHA's i've stayed in. now, take this with a grain of salt, because i know i'm biased towards sydney--be honest, you would be too if you made it home for four months--but auckland isn't really that much to write home about. sydney boasts a population the size of the entire country of new zealand, and maybe a quarter of that population lives in auckland. that's still nothing to shake a stick at, but when you're used to bursting metropolis 1 million population feels almost rural.

it's beautiful. don't get me wrong! we went on this hilltop--wait, it was a cinder cone--and were able to look around for miles and counted about a dozen other cinder cones without looking too hard. it's beauitful.
we spend a night or two in auckland, then hopped a bus for rotorua, a few hours away. it's a fine stop to learn about maori culture, as it has many important sites. what exactly we did is a blur to me now, but there was fine dining, hiking, hongi/hungi, volcanic springs and hot pools both safe and dangerous, sulfur smells, processing groups, and and beautiful scenery. i do believe i ran down and into a volcanic crater at one point.

after that, we went back to auckland for another day or two. a few of us went on a hike to a little spot called "fairy springs" which was so very pretty and intimate and fun. laughs were had by all. i think i even took a little--very little--video and i'll get to posting that sometime.

that last day took forever. we processed for the last time that morning, giving each other words of affirmation and generally celebrating our newfound friendships. yes, there was crying, yes, there was lots of hugging. there is never enough time to love on people, or words that can say exactly the right thing. but we try.
our plane left in the evening, which puts us at the airport in the afternoon, which has us leaving the hostel after lunch. it's hard to say what we did with all that time as we never dawdled or stopped moving. waiting in lines? asking for directions? checking and repacking bags? once on the plane, it was hard for me not to reflect on the difference between the coming and the going.
i know these people now. we've stopped asking those introductory questions of "what's your name? where you from? what's your major?" i am used to seeing their faces and enduring all sorts of strange circumstances with them (six people in a 10x10 room: the outback. overanxious museum guards: canberra. tribal dances around a fire: the bush. just as kimberly read the inscription on st. patrick's breastplate every time we boarded a bus, we prayed for traveling mercies.) i am used to dancing with them, laughing with them, fighting with them, caring for them, and suffering with them. this final plane ride was a last hurrah.
we had the wind with us as we moved, so the flight was shorter than the first. some slept, most watched at least part of a movie.people started to get up and be social in the last two or three hours, as we knew that when the plane landed would come a flurry of activity and the inevitable fracturing of our group as we made for our separate connecting flights. and that's exactly what happened.
i was one of the last to split from our group. some had flights right away and couldn't afford to socialize, others had hours and wanted to find a cozy spot to settle into. i was able to get in contact with my big brother brian just like four months before. we were together for an hour then he helped me carry my bags to my terminal.
i almost didn't get on the flight to northwest arkansas due to some bizarre overbooking issues. one person turned to me and told me how i could have checked in online before i left home. all i could do is smile. "according to the calendar, i left 'home' about fours in the future from now, and have been traveling for approximately the last twenty. checking in early wasn't really an option." a few moments later, i was ushered onto a plane.

when i arrived at the airport i've known for years, the smell of arkansas air rushed back into me. arkansas winter will cary from high 60's to mid 30's every few weeks. stepping off the plane i knew i was in the midst of a warm swing. it was lovely. my mom met me at the gate with open arms and a handful of "welcome home" balloons. i climbed into my bed that night with a strange sense of peace. i was home.