Day 120+ a few weeks..
Well I now have been home for about a month and life is slowly inching towards “normal” though I know my life has been forever changed by my experiences abroad.
The last few days in Belgium were a whirlwind, so much packing, saying goodbye to wonderful people and not believing that everything was coming to an end. I do have to say that the last night I was in Brussels was a night that I know I will always remember.
My roommates and I decided to have a little last get together that evening with our whole program, we told everyone to come over around 8 and bring their own snacks so we could all eat and just hang out together before leaving the next day. Well at eight o’clock…no one was there. So my three best friends from Brussels and I decided to start throwing our own party, which consisted of singing Celine Dion, Backstreet Boys and Nysync songs as loud as we could and dancing around our beautiful apartment. Later that evening I got to meet up with Rudolf and go see the city one last time.
By the time we got back to our apartment it was about 4 in the morning and all of my roommates were still up because we made a pact to not sleep on the last night. Awful idea. So it was 4AM, our taxi was coming at 5 and none of us had slept in the last 24 hours and were about to not sleep for another 20. We got packed, cleaned our apartment up, and tearfully said goodbye to 41 Henri Marichalstraat.
Our taxi driver arrived and then Rudolf and our poor driver helped get me and my four roomates things from our apartment into the large taxi van that was taking us to the airport. Rudolf was such a good sport that whole evening and morning…helping me pack, hoisting my overweight luggage into the taxi and helping organize all of our millions of bags into the van so we could actually get into the taxi. After we all got squeezed into the van including Rudolf), we headed to the airport.
Once we got to the airport, we all hoped out and started getting our stuff out, it was pretty funny because I just hoped out of the van and started to look around for my stuff…and there was Rudolf gathering all my bags and doing all the hard work himself. He was and is soo good to me! We checked into the flight and once again Rudolf silently stood by my side and helped me as I frantically looked through a million important papers at the check in desk.
The long and tearful goodbye between Rudolf and I was next, such a hard but good moment…just to realize how real the feelings you have for someone are. It was such a hard moment, but definitely one I will always remember. At times Rudolf seemed ok with leaving…but not ok with just leaving me without someone to protect or take care of me J He kept asking he if was sure my dad just couldn’t meet me in NY to make sure I got home ok. I never knew someone would care and look out for me so much.
I tearfully made it through security while some strangers gave me hopeful smiles and even patted my back to help me calm my sobs. I was quite the site. Puffy eyes from not sleeping. Red cheeks from crying. And 3 different bags I was trying to keep track of.
Thank goodness I was going on the same flight as two of my roomates! That definitely made the whole leaving thing a bit better. The next few hours are a bit hazy; a very long flight, not a lot of sleep, and lots of waiting around ensued.
At JFK we had a disaster and almost had to stay the night in NY because of a flight delay. Thank goodness I went crazy on the attendant at the counter who eventually found me and my roommate Chrissy a direct flight home. Sometimes it pays to be Penny Bollinger’s daughter, she has taught me well.
That night I finally got home in a daze, almost confused what was happening….was this really my house? Did this place really not change even though so much of me had? Is this really my bed? The same bed I slept in 4 months ago before my life was so different? Wow. My dad tucked me in that night, something he hasn’t done in years..and prayed with me. As my dad finished his prayer I realized that that day I had gotten to pray with two of the men in my life that mean the most to me…..and suddenly I understood that everything was going to be ok. Whether on one side of the ocean or the other, the Lord was watching out for me, placing people in my life to comfort me, laugh with me, cry with me, make fun of me, and pray with me at the end of the day. I said I wanted to have this journey be about me and Jesus learning a little bit more about this crazy world…and that it certainly was. I never knew just how my MY Jesus could be everywhere! In churches, in old cathedrals, in apartments, in long candlelit conversations, in birthday parties, in an old irish pub/restaurant, and definitely in my heart, guiding me and holding me each step of my crazy European adventure. The Lord is so soverign and has such a plan for my and YOUR life. His ways are definitely higher than mine. If it was up to me, I would have never guessed that the three roommates I had would teach me so much about life and love me so intimately. I would have never guessed that I could connect so deeply with so many people that are so different than I am. And I definitely would have never imagined that I would fall for a such a wonderful, Godly man half way across the world. I am so blessed that He has a plan and that I DON’T GET TO DECIDE EVERYTHING. Wow. Can’t believe those words came out of my mouth.
Anyway, today remember that the Lord is guiding you and leading you and only HE sees the big picture…and who knows maybe His ways will lead you to some far off land, far away adventure, or crazy opportunity.
To sum up here are the top 10 Things I learned in Brussels:
1. You can live in a big city, and love it.
2. You can not speak the language, and survive…and actually love it. And improve French.
3. You can be best friends with your roommates
4. The Grand Place is the greatest place on Earth.
5. is NOT impossible to figure out public transportation, even if the signs are not in your native tongue.
6. European men really do dress that well.
7. You can learn to LOVE walking everywhere.
7. You can learn to LOVE walking everywhere.
8. You can still keep up and have awesome relationships with the people that matter most while being very far away.
9. You can have a hard, overwhelming, boring job and still love your boss and the people you work with.
And the last big thing I learned while abroad is that you can fall completely, head over heels, undeniably in love with someone…and that if the relationship is right, and is of God’s will…it doesn’t have to end there J
