Welp, It's been a little over a month since I arrived back on American soil. Needless to say things aren't much different, but I did experience some culture shock when I arrived back home. Firstly, let me thank my parents for allowing me to go on such a life changing journey. I found out when I got back that my mom and dad didn't believe I would actually go when I presented them with the idea so many months before my departure. They thought that I would just forget about it, but am I glad I didn't. I learned so much while I was abroad, not only about a different culture and place, but also about myself. I'm so blessed to have so many wonderful opportunities like this at such a young age and also to have the two greatest parents anyone could ask for!
Back to my reality check: When my parents picked me up from the airport I obviously cried, because that's just how I am and I have never been so excited to see them! I even got to meet up with Krista and her family since she was flying in at the same time as me (weird, we didn't plan it I swear). As we were driving home, I kept thinking about how odd things were, like driving on the opposite side of the road and the driver being on the opposite side as well. It was late, but when we pulled into my house there were balloons everywhere and a huge sign greeting me home, it was wonderful! Baba was waiting outside and she was so excited to see me and told me never to go away again, but I can't promise that! We stayed up really late talking and I unpacked all my gifts and African things to show them. The puppies were so excited to see me as well and they basically tore my arms off. The next few days I just relaxed and enjoyed hanging out with my family and seeing all my friends!
I love the comfort of home and knowing my surroundings, but being at home takes the adventure out of everyday life. My time in South Africa was basically one huge adventure and each and everyday was never the same. Simple things like going food shopping would be a huge task. I could go on and on about this topic forever about how SA and America lifestyles are different, but I'm sure that is obvious!
Well, since I've been home I have done and few things and had a few revelations. Firstly, I made some good money (because I have NONE right now) working two volleyball camps with my new coach. Time spent in the gym was a lot of fun and I was lucky because I got to make up some lost time with my new coach. Everyone else on the team got to know him all throughout the spring season and unfortunately I was out of the country. He makes next season sound really exciting and I'm looking forward to it. A small side note: I am now a vegetarian and have been going strong for almost a month now. It is not as hard as it seems and meat actually looks disgusting to me now. I don't miss it at all, even when I am working. I just need to fined a way to take in more protein because I feel as if my energy levels have dropped over the past few weeks, or maybe I am havingi withdrawal from Africa. Also, I ran my first ultramarathon, finally making me an "ultramarathon runner"! It was the Buckeye Trail 50K (about 30 miles) through the trails of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Lauren, Jess and I all went into it together and made it out alive. It was the most pain I have ever been in, period. I think that I ran a good race up until the halfway point (mile 15) or the turn around and that is where I met my downfall. I didn't take in enough salt, so I was cramping. Then when I finally got enough salt, I became dehydrated because I wasn't drinking enough. I also didn't eat as much as I should have at each aide station causing me to, as I said to Lauren, become loopy aka dizzy and delusional. My hips were the main part of me that was cramped so it was affecting the way I was running which was putting pressure on everything else. Needless to say this was a great learning experience for me physically. I now know what to do in the future to prevent all the terrible things that went wrong with my body. Mentally though, I think I was there 98%. I say 98% because, as Lauren can vouch for, when I was dizzy I was talking nonsense, but I should get some credit for the fact that I kept moving forward. Mentally I know that I can run these crazy races, but physically I need to realize that I do not have super powers and I need to do the small things to keep my body moving. Crossing the finish line was the best feeling in the world! A metal was put around my neck and we headed straight for the food! Sitting down believe it or not hurt just as much as standing did. Even through all the pain I still had the time of my life, and plan on doing more races at this distance, and hopefully when I am a little older finishing my first 100.
I also went to my first Indians game of the summer for Rachel's birthday!!! And had an amazing cookout with my BFF's. Thank god we are all 21 now! :) And even got to visit the beautiful Becca! My BFF from Africa. Not only did we eat together every night but we went on lots of adventures and being in the US is obviously not going to stop us! I'm just glad we have cars now instead of having to ride our bikes everywhere! Oh and there is no ocean around which means she can't ask me to go everyday! haha :)
Last week was also pretty epic because the ASHS had their first alumni volleyball match against Falls. I had a great time even if we lost in 3. It was great that we had so many parents from previous years come out and support us and we even made some good money for Special Olympics!
Over the next few weeks I am basically just preparing myself for the volleyball season and my last year of college. I have recently decided on a career path of zoo keeping, hopefully mainly working with elephants since I had such an amazing experience at KEP. I am in the process of putting things together for my future and updating my resume. Wish me luck!
Thats all for now! Cheers!
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