(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)
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