Moving Back, Moving In

Roughly 3 months ago, I landed in the Shreveport airport; my first time setting foot back in the U.S. after a full 10 months volunteering in Israel/Palestine.

The reverse culture shock was immediate, and surprising:

Inside the airport, televisions blared American programming – FOX news, ESPN, CNN. The voices all around me were speaking English, not Hebrew or Arabic. I could eavesdrop on any conversation I chose – and the unfamiliar stimulation was overwhelming.

I still remember the first time I went to order a beverage, in the airport at JFK. I asked for a medium coffee, my jet-lagged body desperately needing the caffeine. However, I was shocked when they handed me it in a cup far bigger than even the “large” sizes were in Israel. This was a medium? It felt awkward and heavy in my grasp. 

There were many other things in my first month or so of being back home that appeared foreign or strange to me after being away for so long. Grocery stores seemed massive, the options to choose from vast. Even walking into Petco, after only visiting pet stores roughly the size of a child's bedroom, startled me. So many choices! So many aisles! Such bright lights and shiny floors and wide aisles!

Everything was new and big and disorienting: I had a mix of emotions. I was so thankful to be home, so thankful to once again be with my family. But I also found myself missing the friends I had made and the lifestyle I had come to adjust to. No more public transportation, no more walking an average of 5 miles a day to get from place to place and bus stop to bus stop. No more wondering if the person I'm speaking to is Arab or Israeli, whether I should thank them in Arabic or Hebrew. No more calculating 8 hours of time difference to know whether I can call my mother with a cooking question.

It was an entirely different world. 

But, 3 months in, I've mostly adjusted back into normal, Louisiana-American life. I began my first church appointment at Grace Community in July as their Associate Pastor, and I am so excited to be there. I really think I'm going to be a great fit there, and am looking forward to the ministry we will be able to do together.

Though I won't be posting on this blog anymore, I have a new website that I will be posting on:

http://revjessicalowe.com/

For those who read and kept up with my blog while I was over there serving, thank you. It made such a difference to know that I had a community back home supporting me through both the good times and the bad. I couldn't have made it through all those months, and back home, if it wasn't for you.