The Longest Mile

Today marks the longest I have been out of the country at one time.
........
I sit and sip my Strawberry Mango Ginger tea. The aroma alone is enough to entrance me.
I walk to my window and open it; I breathe in.
I am met by the surprisingly light fresh smell of sea tainted air. Three long blocks away from the sea, but seven floors up, I somehow catch a whiff of sea mixed with the wooded mountain next to my complex.

I look up, I see Orion looking back down from the stars. I look down, I see the fish pond surrounded by greenery and palm trees. I look out, I see a tall building with lights on the perimeter of the roof- a beautiful sight in the foreground to my view of the ships at sea.

I listen and I hear the deep call of the fog horns on the ships coming in to port; I hear the gentle playing of piano music from neighboring apartments, and I hear the chatter of the people below.

Welcome to Xiamen- Southwest side of the island.
The scene I have just painted describes the perfect spring night with a touch of coolness after a unusually warm day. The sun came out for a bit and we even got to see a little bit of blue sky peeking out from behind the blanket of winter haze holding on.
I walk through the markets to find my fruits and vegetables and am hit with the pungent smell of tofu, but my senses are gently eased after the fresh scent of cilantro wafts into my nostrils and can't help but smile as I smell the familiar tang of citrus and strawberries. I walk past buckets of ginger and garlic and piles of cabbage, potatoes, various types mushrooms, carrots, and peppers- hot peppers, mild peppers, green peppers, red peppers, long peppers, short peppers, dried peppers-any kind of pepper you desire!
I walk back past the small stores and noodle shops that line the street, past the flower shop and the dry goods market, past the small place I get my bubble tea, cross under the big road and see my turn off.

I can never help but smile as I walk past the guards into the courtyard- there always seems to be a gentle breeze and now that it is a bit warmer I am greeted by parents and grandparents sitting around the fish pond chatting while their children ride their bicycles and up and down the little stone road and run back and forth playing tag. I could not be happier with my new location.
Good thing too, because as of yesterday if this had been any other trip I have been on, I would have gotten back to the States yesterday with a whole lot of pictures, souvenirs, memories and stories to share with all of you. No. Now I see. This is my new home.

"This is home, this now I'm finally where I belong...after searching for a place of my own, maybe this is home? Yeah, this is home...I've seen the enemy, but I won't go back, back to how it was. I've got my heart set on what happens next- I've got my eyes wide it's not over yet- we are miracles and it's not over yet!"         ~Switchfoot- This is Home


So I press on, the days when it is cold wet and rainy, the days when the breeze is not from the sea and is filled with the pungent smell of rotting fruit and smelly people. When the buses are crowded and I almost get trampled just trying to get on the bus. When I slip on someone's spit on the sidewalk and someone else laughs at the crazy klutzy American girl who does not know how to walk. Why? Because this is home and it does not always feel or look like the paradise I see today, but it is where I belong.

In the meantime, I will enjoy the fresh scent on the cool breeze and gentle piano music in the background of children's gleeful laughter.

This is it- life for the next 17 months.
There is no turning back now!