10 days.

10 days!

I leave this crazy country to head back for a 3 month visit to the States in 10 days.

I've been beyond excited for months.  I mean I'm talking "I-squeal-every-time-I talk-on-the-phone-to-anybody-in-America" excited.  I make lists of people to see, places to go, and things to buy.  And my mouth waters when I think about all the yummy food that awaits me.

But yesterday, a twinge of sadness came over me as I looked around the room at my friends, who were just laughing and carrying on.

When I come back here in August, several expat friends will no longer be here because they're moving back to the States.  And several of my local friends will have graduated from the university and will be relocating to work at their new jobs.  Things will never be as they are right now.

One of my local friends made me cry the last time she was at my house. We prayed together and cried and then we cried as we were saying goodbye.

I like that.

Every time I leave the States, of course I cry because it's hard to say goodbye once again to my family and friends.

But I kind of like that I also cry when I leave and have to say goodbye to friends here. That I cry saying goodbye to people who've become like family, like brothers and sisters, in the last three years.

I know I'm a bit of a crier and so I may cry more than others, but I do feel blessed that I have friends here and there.  Friends that I get excited to see and sad to say goodbye to all over this crazy planet.

this life is wild.