#ReentryReady- Day 2

How are you preparing emotionally to leave the ship? 

Some people tell me: “I’m not ready to leave the ship”, despite of having a departure date set from the beginning of their commitment. 

Here on the ship, we say goodbye to people on a weekly basis. I’ve found a balance that may not work for others, but works for me. I am a friendly person, so it’s easy to find reasons to like every new person that I meet, and grieve when they leave. So I’ve learned to accept that everyone here is leaving, and I don’t know when I will be able to see them again. It’s easy now, and yes, when I go to the dock (which has been only for specific close friends), I cry. I thank them for coming, I encourage them to enjoy their trip back home, and accept the pain in my heart. And then I move on. I’m happy and grateful for the chance of meeting so many people, even if I know I won’t see them again. It’s a lot easier if they’re leaving to come back in a couple of months, then it’s just a happy “see you later!”.

When I think about leaving, honestly, I can say I’m ready to go home. There are a few reasons for that.

First, I’m coming back to the ship by the end of July. I don’t have to pack everything I have and say goodbye to this awesome life for good, but just for two months.

Second, as we get closer to finish this field service, despite of the challenges and even the unexpected hard times, I see so many good things that we accomplished. Although I’m not good at math, I do like good numbers, like thousands of people having free surgery!! Hundreds having access to our different surgical specialties, the dental clinic, the ponseti clinic, the agricultural program, and our medical capacity building program. So, yes, I’m able to go through this last month in Guinea knowing we tried and gave our best. 

Third, I’m ready to go home because I miss it. I miss my family, daily. I miss my country, the beauty of the different landscape I’ll get to see again, the food!!! I miss my church, the crazy city of Bogotá, and speaking Spanish. 

So, although this question was easy to answer... there is one that I don’t know if will be asked during the next days, and I also don’t know if I’ll be able to answer it. And this is the question: how am I preparing emotionally to say good bye to my family? I’ve had people giving different opinions, I fight the tears and i guess I will say that I’m not ready, not yet. So if you want to pray for me, please pray for me to enjoy this last month on the ship as I get ready to embrace two months of “home”. And then say goodbye again.