Homesick

I'm homesick.
And not just because I'm in a foreign country. Not just because it's father's day. Not just because my host sister returned home for the first time after studying in the US for ten months and seeing her see her family and seeing their joy gave me stomach cramps--no.

I am homesick because I have not been home for twenty-four weeks. And in those twenty-four weeks life has been unbelievably full. Lifegivingly full--but full none the less.

I left home to spend four days in Washington DC with a group of like-minded college students to strategically coordinate an advocacy group for Israel and Palestine.

I returned back to college to face the confusion of navigating broken relationships, changed living situations, and readjustments. 

I took a full class load, worked about 12 hours per week, coordinated events, attended hours and hours of meetings and rehearsals, figured out my summer plans, and went to counselling.

In February I spent a weekend traveling through the south--Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee--on a racial reconciliation trip. This set the tone for much of the rest of the semester.

In March I took a week off and went on a spring break trip to Florida. That was fun.

I spent Easter in Bloomington Normal, as per usual. 

I went to Ireland and Northern Ireland, and spent two very full weeks with classmates witnessing, experiencing, and wrestling with reconciliation on a personal, relational, and societal level.

and now I am in Palestine--for two and a half more weeks. 

I am tired.

And home has come to be a place where trees stay green forever and water tastes good from the tap and cheese is perfect and beer is the best. And all I want right now is to sit on my papa's lap and cry. 

two and a half weeks to go. six months. And then home.

Mostly, all of this is teaching me the importance and the meaning of rest.

Yes, I can go to tel aviv for a day and relax. I can go for hikes or take every Saturday to ride the train through the city. I can get comfortable reading alone in a coffee shop or going for walks. 

I can get used to taking naps and reading for fun and doing restful things. But I have yet to find a portable sanctuary that is as rejuvenating as Oregon. As my home.