I'm in Texas now, participating in the grand reunion of Liz and Ali, and it's like no time passed since we last saw each other more than half a year ago. That's the way it is with friends from the ship. I'm starting to realize that I'm more at ease around ship people than I am almost anyone else. I don't need to explain myself when I slide into Liberian English. They understand when I'm bewildered in a store, and they know why a picture with a random moustached man is just about the funniest thing since sliced bread. (Whether or not sliced bread is actually funny is a debate for another day.)Tomorrow we head out to the IOC (International Operations Center) where we'll take part in a month-long course, Gateway, that will prepare us for long-term service on the ship. Liz will be back on the ship by the end of the first week in March, and I'll join her after the wedding. I'm excited to do Gateway after already having been on the ship for an entire outreach, excited to see how my perspective on misisons and development has been shaped by the year I just lived through. I'm excited to meet people I'll be working with over the next months, and I'm excited to see old friends who I worked with over the past months.
It's getting easier, this picking up and going. My roots are thinning, hurting just a little less when I have to break them and move to the next place, to the next season of my life. I just hope I'll recognize it when the day comes for me to plant myself again.
