Home Sweet Home

As the ambassador for Montgomery, I awoke early on our last day to finish working out details for our day and then found out that our bus would not be bringing us to the city of civil rights and Civil War history after all, due to a broken bearing. We waited on our bus for another charter bus to come pick us up from the side of the road in the middle of Florida. It was sad to say goodbye to Reuben, our bus driver and friend for the past 40 days, as we boarded the next bus that would take us to Nashville.

The abrupt ending to our journey brought mixed feelings. On the one hand, I was more than ready to see my friends and family, most of whom I had never gone 6 weeks without seeing. I was a tiny bit relieved to avoid one last stressful day of being ambassador, though I was also disappointed to miss a city that I had spent quite a bit of time researching and planning that seems so rich in history. Leaving the 11 people that I had spent 6 weeks with and had come to love was also bittersweet. I was ready for my own bed, but I would miss my cozy bunk. I was ready for a little bit of time to myself but I would miss always being around such great, fun people 24/7. Now that it is almost 2 weeks after we have returned home (yes, I’m a bit behind on my blogging… J) I still have bittersweet feelings. I am about to move into a new house and start a new semester with interesting classes. I have a lot to be excited about, but I catch myself all the time missing the thrill of traveling and seeing new things and being constantly intellectually challenged by those on the trip. This trip was, as Rashina put it, “beautiful, overwhelming and exhausting.” I'm still processing a lot of things that we saw and learned, and trying to figure out how to fit those things into my ideas about this nation.

I look forward to the next time I can travel around our crazy, confusing, wonderful and exciting country to see all of the many things that this first journey missed. I look forward to seeing Ken, Rashina, Chris, Elisabeth, Jenni, Cory, Pierce and Shirah soon at school. If Heather and Emily don’t come back to walk for graduation, then I insist on seeing them sometime within the next year. I’m excited to sign up for a class with Andi, who I did not know before this trip, whenever she comes back from her sabbatical. I look forward to continuing trying to expand my understanding of our country, its people, and what my role is as an American citizen. And I will always have incredible memories from this beautiful, overwhelming and exhausting experience.

Thank you for reading. I hope you found something here that opened your eyes or piqued your interest. Best wishes,

Emma