5 more sleeps.

Can you believe it?! Only five more nights in the Dominican Republic! I feel as if I got here, turned around and - whoa - there it was; the end of the summer. I also feel as if this post should be some long essay on all that I've learned, or the profound discoveries I made regarding my ultimate purpose in life.....but....

......well.......I got nothin'.....

....except a non-exclusive list of the things I will surely miss once I'm back in the United States. (in no particular order)

1. My own bathroom.
2. Hot, sweaty, long Dominican church services on Sunday night - that I can't understand the half of.
3. Oatmeal juice.
4. Limonada.
5. Sitting (and sleeping) under a ceiling fan.
6. Speaking "Spanglish", because I'm still not good enough to speak solamente en español. (I guess that will carry over to when I'm home...)
7. Watching the sunrise over the ocean.
8. The ocean.
9. Waving to everyone I know (and don't know) on our walks into town.
10. Riding in an air-conditioned bus.
11. Falling asleep to loud music.
12. Waking up to loud music.
13. Franchesca.
14. Nena.
15. Jochi.
16. Luz Maria.
17. Yenny.
18. Lisy.
19. Señor Peguero.
20. Jaury.
21. Domingo.
22. Indiana.
23. Joanni.
24. Yanina.
25. Christopher.
26. .......everyone at the orphanage, really.
27. Roosters making noise at 2:30am, 3:30am, 4:30am, 5:30am....
28. 2 hour siestas.
29. Star gazing.
30. The beach.
31. The "Banana Song".
32. Wearing a skirt. Cada dia. (Every day.)
33. Yucca frita. (Fried Yucca.)
34. Cristina, the woman from Walterio.
35. Swinging.
36. Coloring.
37. Jumping rope.
38. Teeter-tottering (is that a word?)
39. Sweating.
40. Mosquitoes. Oh, wait. Nope. Not gonna miss those...
41. Sitting on my roof.
42. Not blow-drying my hair. (Guess that could carry over too...)
43. Barking dogs right outside my bedroom window.....always barking.
44. Buying fruit from vendors on the street.
45. Not buying gas.
46. Living in the moment.

..............y, hay tanto más, pero no sé decirlo todo en Inglés.

If you read this far, thanks. I know a lot of those things don't really make sense - like why I would miss fried yucca or barking dogs - but, trust me. I will. And, maybe it will be a good way to start a conversation when I return.

In the end, this summer has turned out to be such a blessing. Not one full of answers, or direction, or revealed "callings" necessarily, but one full of love, and laughter, and trials, and challenges, and....life, I guess. And the thought of leaving has me a little "messed up" - a little unsure of how to "carry over" the bulk of how I lived and what I learned down here. I want to come home, but I don't want to be completely back to "life as usual" in the next 6-8 weeks.

I'm not sure how to do that. I'm not sure what that looks like. But, poco a poco, I guess.

Little by little. I think if I'm going to bring anything home with me this would be it. I want to live my life little by little. Not in such a rush to "figure everything out" or "do everything" - but, rather, in a way that I don't miss what's going on right now. I want to live in a way that I enjoy the "little" progress; each step, each moment, each chapter.

I'll need help. It will be challenging to go against the product-driven, schedule-oriented, five-year plan kind of society we live in. It will be difficult not having an answer for everyone who wants to know about the "next" step in my life. I don't know what's next! I don't know that I'll meet "the boy", or get married, or have babies, or move to the Dominican, or not come back at all, or stay at my current job, or get a "real" job, or stay in Michigan, or....or.....wake up tomorrow. (Of course, I want to wake up tomorrow. I'm just saying...) I simply don't know.

But, I'm ok with that. Here. And I want to be ok with it in the United States.

So, I suppose I was wrong. I do have something. I did learn something. I did have a revelation to the ultimate purpose of my life...

I just want to live it. Cada dia. Poco a poco. Con Dios. (Every day. Little by little. With God.)