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| Lauren and I at the airport! |
My
flight landed in Omaha this past Saturday around noon. Since then, I have been
running around crazy, catching up with family and friends and completing a few
things that I had missed while I was in Peru. I have decided to share a little
bit of my homecoming with you all!!!!
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| Dave, Zach, Annie, Me, and Lauren |
I
was warmly greeted at the airport on Saturday by my parents, little brother and
best friend, Lauren. After picking up my luggage we made our way over to “Upstream,”
a restaurant in downtown Omaha. There, we met up with my older brother, Dave,
cousin Zach, and my brother’s girlfriend Annie. After a nice lunch, it was time
to hit the road for good old Kearney!
I
think the whole town of Kearney was able to figure out when Michael, Kelan, and
Jordan made their way to my house. They were greeted with many hugs and screams
of “I missed you. I can’t believe I am seeing you in person right now.” After a
little conversation, we set off to the mall in our town to visit my friend,
Kendra. Next, it was time to get our tennis game on! In the middle of the
match, my other really good friend, Dylan, showed up and it was rounds of hugs
and “I missed you” all over again. After some tennis we headed over to my old
dorm and before I knew it I was surrounded by about 15 people asking me how
Peru was, what my favorite part was, how my Spanish is etc. That night we all
headed out to do some start gazing.
Sunday
afternoon I went and visited the Kozera family. I nanny for the two twin girls
in the family and it was nice catching up with Corlis and Phil. Sunday evening
I headed to the Newman Center (the Catholic Church on campus) and received a
warm welcoming from Father Matt and Sister Rosy. I enjoyed going to church
again for the first time in 4 months at the Newman Center. The rest of the
night was spent talking and catching up.
I
have just felt so special by all the welcoming I have gotten since I came back.
On Wednesday night, the 5th grade CCD class I help teach surprised
with flowers, tennis balls, and posters that said “Welcome Back, Mary.” Many
other people have warmed my heart by their kind greetings and how excited they
are to see me. When I was walking out of church on Sunday I heard someone
scream my name and turned around to see Elizabeth and Jenn (two friends) coming
running at me! Sometimes I will be randomly walking on UNK campus or be
somewhere in Kearney when I see someone they now and watch them take a double
take of me and then have them run up to me and say, “You are back from
Peru?!?!?!”
It
is hard to describe the feeling of being back. On the one hand, it is great
seeing family and friends and having my old bed back. However, I really do miss
Peru and everything that came along with it! I miss my family and friends and
how relaxing and laid back it was! It is still really weird being in Kearney
and thinking, “last week at this time I was in Peru doing _________ (fill in
the blank). It is soooooooo weird talking English all the time. On our way back
to Kearney, we stopped at a gas station and as I was talking to the man at the
counter I wondered why he was giving me such an odd look. John was at my side
and he informed me that I had just talked to the man in Spanish. Well, that
explains a lot!
One thing I am sure of
is that life here will take awhile to get used to just how life in Peru took
awhile to get used to! I miss Peru like crazy and can’t wait till the day I get
to go back there again!
XOXO Mary
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