reflecting - a year later...

Photo by: Kaeli Byers
Location: Istanbul, Turkey


Studying abroad: a simple enough concept - attending school in another country. However, such an experience is anything but simple. My Mac dictionary widget gives a few definitions of the word abroad. The first is no mystery, "[living] in or [going] to a foreign country or countries." However, it is this second, which deeply resonates with my experiences as one who embarked on the journey of intentional learning in a foreign culture. It briefly states, "in different directions; over a wide area." Removing the obvious physical reality here, This - mentally, emotionally and spiritually speaking begins to capture the complex process of forging and re-forging, directing and redirecting, interpreting and reinterpreting, one's beliefs, thoughts, and understanding of both self and “other” within endless elements of Paradox.

#17: After all Life is a Mosaic and what fun is a mosaic if you can predict the pieces?? ;o)

(Written: 2-4-09...The post beneath this one is also new though I thought I had published it some time ago...Thank you for your patience :o)

Well I’d say it’s about time for another posting! Sadly, it comes with some unfortunate news….


Contrary to the original plan I will no longer be studying in Jerusalem this Spring. Rather, I will be back in California taking classes at Pasadena City College (so as not to fall behind in school), saving up for the purchase of a car this summer, and will return to complete my last year of Undergrad at Gordon in the Fall.


I am still a Middle Easter Studies major and mercifully this change does not cause any major problems with the fulfillment of this degree. Though I feel the personal pain of not being able to complete a full year abroad, I know I will be back to the region sooner or later and look forward to seeing that future opportunity arise! There are a number of reasons why I changed my plans but basically for me it came down to timing and for me the timing was off.


I do miss the Middle East and currently have 6 books I picked up from the library all of which pertain to the Middle East in some way. So far I have read two of them and I love being re-submerged into the land, mindset, and feeling of the people and culture.


Today I started typing up some of my thoughts and notes collected over the semester. So begins the “intentional” digesting of the semester though I know I’ve been passively digesting it for some time now. Increasingly I realize how much I’ve changed on the level of things that I notice, think about, and contextualize. There is nothing quite like the moments when you see how much you’ve come to see life in its globalized framework and, as it threatens to overwhelm, you wonder desperately if there’s any way back to the comfort of ignorance while knowing that without a doubt there is not and that really you wouldn’t want that.


I love the freedom that comes when you challenge old ways of thinking culturally. I get frustrated when I think about how irreconcilable certain things in life are and struggle to walk that fine line of understanding the reality of things and while not becoming discouraged beyond the point of believing the value of communication, sharing, and listening.


I am excited for what this season holds and while there are times that I feel a sense of disappointment that I’m not somewhere else the reality is I’m exactly where I need to be for these particular moments in my life to unfold.


Thank you again for being part of the journey and for all the prayers that have kept me afloat in many a trying time. I ask only that if I come to mind you again lift me up in prayer for who knows what life is throwing my way!


May Peace shadow your ever step in these days!
Kaeli :o)

Egypt Adventure – 16: Israel, Egypt, HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!

(Written: 12-26-08...SO SORRY FOR THE LATE POSTING ON THIS!!! I THOUGHT IT HAD BEEN POSTED! It must have slipped through the Holiday cracks :o(

Hello again! It’s been quite some time since my last post! The daunting task of trying to describe my experiences in Israel, wrapping up Egypt, and transitioning home kept me away from this blog for quite a while but I felt I should clarify that I made it through alive and well :o)


My time in Israel/Palestine was fascinating, frustrating, inspiring, confusing, and overwhelming! From speakers, to tours, to hanging out with Christian Palestinians the two weeks we spent in Jerusalem flew by as we sought to unpack some of the issues shaping the land and the hearts of the people living there.


I am so thankful that I was able to visit before going out there at the end of January for my second semester abroad! I was even able to visit the school that I’ll be attending. At this point I am incredibly glad to be home and there is a part of me that wishes I could leave all the issues behind and not return but in the same breath I am so relieved that I’ll have a whole other semester to unpack the complexities I began to encounter. I look forward to posting more about that stage of the journey and more about Israel next semester as I live in Jerusalem.


We returned to Egypt after the month of travel in time for Thanksgiving the next day! Boy oh boy was I every thankful to be back in my apartment and MY BED in Agouza! Especially since I was amongst friends to help me unpack all that we experienced and learned in our travels. Thanksgiving was a joyous celebration indeed full of great food and lots of laughter.


As soon as the festivities were over it was down to the grindstone as we got to work on the 5 papers that were due almost immediately. Alls well and I finished in enough time to make a few more Christmas shopping excursions at the Khan al-Khalili and other areas in Cairo. I also fit in one last visit to my host family in Embaba.


Unwilling to drop the traveling spirit too quick we set out for a Coptic retreat center in Egypt (a couple hours from Cairo) called Anafora in order to begin processing re-entry to the states. Though I was initially a skeptic on the location and the events I was a convert by the end. The time we had for silence was one of my favorite aspects, time to stop and reflect a little, and time to not think at all - to let the waves of thought drift by without the stress of engaging everything.


The last night at Anafora contains one of my lifetime highlights. All our meetings and group processing sessions were past and we had just spent the evening in an encouragement circle (it’s sounds lame but was surprisingly effective) all that was left was to close out one of our final experiences as a group with the Doxology. This hymn has traveled with me this whole semester and is the consistent string that in retrospect seems to have been the single connector piece throughout all my experiences. That night I looked around at the faces of those who had lived so much life by my side illuminated as they were with candle light as we stood in a circle, in a warm adobe hut, clasping hands and singing out with full hearts a crescendo of praise to God. It is hard to put into words a moment that was so worthy of all that I am all that I could every hope to be…


We returned to Agouza in order to pack and close out this significant chapter of our lives. The night before we left for DC we came together for one last meal and time of sharing from our fearless leader David Holt and in order to laugh and remember with a slideshow put together by one of the students.


Before long, though it felt achingly long at the time, I was home in California and ready to share in the love of Family, Friends, and Christmas.


To all of you who have shared in this journey with me by following this blog and being engages and interested I thank you. Truly it is an honor to me that you take the time to be present in my life in this way I am truly blessed whenever I find out that one of you has been reading and following my adventures! I look forward to the future conversations it may prompt. Until then, Merry Christmas and happy New Year!

Salaam!

(ps – I plan to resume once I return to Jerusalem at the end of January. Until then I would appreciate your prayers that the Lord may prepare me for this next season in the journey…)