Thoughts from Heathrow airport

I sit here in the London airport, drinking my Starbucks, watching the people walk by and I am a bit overwhelmed by what I am watching. As soon as I stepped off the plane I was thrust into a world of anonymity. Thrust into the bustling crowd where no one knew who I was or were I came from or what these past 5 months held for me, which is so different from Banta where everyone knows my name and what I do and who I am. I walked into the waiting lounge and was immediately bombarded with materialism from all the duty free shops. Yet while at first this world felt strange to me, it was not hard to walk up to the Starbucks counter, and order my french vanilla latte.

As I opened my bag to pull out my journal, I smile to see traces of Sierra Leone that are in there. The red dirt that is so characteristics of Sierra Leone that coats my bag. I see the bag of letters from my children and I am overwhelmed by love for them and realize how much I will miss them and how much I will miss their growing up that will happen in the next 6 or so months that I am gone. I also laugh because I see a line of sugar ants crawling around the outside of bag enjoying something that must have spilled. I see the left over 1 block in the bottom of my bag.

I know that Sierra Leone is a part of me, its a part of my life and that while I live two very contrasting lives, that both world are very much a part of me, and have made me who I am. So... I sit and enjoy reading my letters from my kids while enjoying my latte.

*Tip: Don't read letters from your children who you won't see for six months in the airport. Everyone stares at you while you are getting a little teary eyed.