Home again

I got back home to San Jose late on Thursday night. There was a prayer meeting and dinner with a few TEAM families in Islamabad on Wednesday night, and I drove down with one family from MCS to go to that. After dinner, we spent the night with a family in Islamabad, but got up at 2am to go to the airport. The family and I were on the same flight from Islamabad to Doha, about a 4 hour flight. We were seated on opposite ends of the plane, but it was nice to have someone to go through the airport with.
In Doha I had a quick transfer to my next flight to JFK, at 13 hour flight. I watched quite a few movies and caught up on some new music.
In JFK I went through customs, got my 70 pound luggage re-checked and went through security again. I hadn't called my dad in a few days because I'd got rid of my cell phone already, so I knew he'd be wanting to know where I was. I was looking through my purse to find some dollars to take to a shop and get quarters when I looked up and saw my very own sister standing in front of me! Meredith had flown out from San Diego that morning just to meet me at the airport and fly home with me! It was an incredible surprise and I was so happy to have someone to spend time with before being reunited with the whole family and everyone else.

We arrived at SFO around 10pm, met by my parents, grandma, grandma & grandpa, and my brother's girlfriend. They had yellow roses for me, and even a welcome home banner. They'd also rented a limo so we could all ride home together. My brother Dave met us at home because he'd just got off work. I gave them some of their presents and we sat around talking for a while, until I finally went to bed around 2am. I woke up, wide awake at 7:30 and spent the day having lunch with Meredith and Dave and sorting through my luggage. I took a nap for a couple of hours, and slept last night for about 11 hours. Hopefully I'm cured now of any jet lag.

I'm glad to be home. I'm thankful for my experience in Pakistan and all I learned about teaching. I'm hopeful to get a job teaching here in San Jose now. People have asked if I'd go back to Pakistan, and I have to say yes. I was never scared or fearful for my own safety, though it was surreal to be teaching students who were worried for their parent's safety where they were working. I had a good experience in the country, despite the challenges and difficulty of teaching.

Thank you all for keeping up with me, and letting me keep up with some of you. Your thoughts, prayers, and e-mails over the year were greatly encouraging to me!

Here's to the future!