Night before Flight - Take Two

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Tonite I laughed so hard, I got a crik in my back. I also started coughing, but as I have bronchitis, that doesn't neccessarily mean much. Tonite we remembered all the fun times we've had this semester. We remembered our crazy teachers, our hard-core tiyullim, our inside-jokes. We shared our talents.

Tonite I cried. Not much. A little watery eyes. A solitary tear or two making its way down my cheek. We remembered how much we will miss eachother. We remembered that in a few hours, we would no longer be living together, learning together, growing together......being together.

This trip has affected me in ways that I can't truly explain. It's more of a feeling. The knowledge that I've changed.....that I'm different. I'm a better person. I'm a happier person. I'm a more knowledgable person, though of what I am not quite sure.

I know I will take this trip, these experiences, with me for the rest of my life. I know I will take these people with me, my friends - no, my family, with me for the rest of my life. I know I will take Israel with me for the rest of my life.

These past few months have been some of the best, worst, hardest and easiest of my life. I have grown so much. My peers have taught me so much. I have learned how to be more carefree, to care more. I have learned how to be independent, to depend on my friends and family around me. I have learned how to be brave in the face of the unknown, to be afraid. I have learned. I have grown.

I am so incredibly grateful for the experience that is about to end. I am excited to come back to the States. I am afraid for what I might find. And I look forward to use those "college campus sighting trips" as excuses to visit my family.

And as much as I look forward to coming back to my familiar ground, I feel like it is no longer familiar. Because today I am leaving my familiar ground.

I'm back now. When can I go home?

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