Teaching 1 Little Who at a Time: Comin' Home

I sat by a guy on the plane ride back. He had been studying for 5 months in Cordoba, a town near Mendoza. He was headed back to North Dakota. I asked him if he had ever seen Fargo. He just looked at me and said, "That's not North Dakota!" to which I replied, "Well, you don't talk like you're from there!" It was going to be a long flight. This said guy was tall. Giant. Gigantor was his new name. I named him already. Geese, what a weirdo I was. Okay, am. What a weirdo I am. I tried squishing my side to the window as much as I could, but his legs were so long he needed all the space he could get, so I slept in a ball for the next 8 hours. A ball. On an airplane. I was more than ecstatic to get off that plane in Dallas and head to customs. Nothing feels better than hearing, "Welcome home, ma'am", as I walked through the gates. They didn't even know where I had been, but they were glad to have me back. I was glad to have me back. Another line of customs and them riffling through my belongings looking for the goods and I would see my family. My real family. Plus, I was really excited about getting out of the airport after replying Hola and Gracias! to my fellow English-speaking Americans. I see this old lady trying to steer people like cattle in the right direction and I nearly run to her giving her a hug. I love old ladies. Plus, I was home. She was excited for me too, don't worry. I walked through the sliding glass doors and see my family waiting on me.

It was hysterical in my mind to see my family positioned the way they were. Bethany was just staring at the doors waiting for my body to emerge like I was a ghost. She sees me and all I can think is, Is this real life?? Then I see my Mom, who was looking at the soldiers coming home, see Bethany out of the corner of her eye moving so she looks to see me coming and runs to me. I love the women in my life because if more women had been there like my older sister, Cortney or my bestie, Sierra they all would have been running for me. The men in my life are a completely different story. Of course they are excited I'm home, but running excited? Not much. My Dad walked quickly to hug me and my brother stayed back at the Donut Stand until I could get to him. It was awkward seeing them again. It was like my first day in Argentina meeting my host brother at the airport. Everyone was just STARING at me and making me feel like I was a newbie. Even the car ride home was awkward for me. I was trying to think of things to say and it was like I had to start over with my family because I hadn't seen them in such a long time. Going from seeing someone errday, all day to not seeing them for six weeks straight is weird.

We got to my Grandparent's house where a real Texas breakfast was waiting on me. I re-lived as much as I could and soon enough realized I had been talking for 8 hours straight. My Mom put me to bed and I woke up a couple of hours later not even realizing how tired I had been. I spent the next couple of days getting used to the Texas heat (luckily my Grandparents own a pool), retelling stories from Argentina and trying to get used to being home. We went out for dinner one night and even that was a hard time for me. It was all I could do not to listen to people speak English and try to translate it to Spanish. Or talk to the waiters in Spanish since they were speaking in Spanish. Then I changed my mind because they might have thought I really knew my Spanish, but I don't. It just felt so different being home. I was really missing people in Argentina, the lifestyle I had formed, and my city. Coming home was nothing like I expected-it's been better. Coming home from a trip to Argentina has given me insight on all I experienced. I have a great support system around me that encourages me to find the truth of what I learned and experienced and to continue to discover things about myself from my journey. I still have so much I can share with others to spread love and knowledge, but I know for right now, I'm just satisfied that I am finally home. In my heart, with my family, I am home.