New Spot!

Leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again...

(Actually, that's a lie. I'll be back at Christmas.)

Tomorrow is the big day! You wouldn't know it by looking at my room, strewn with clothes, books, papers and shoes, but I really am going to pack soon... as soon as I'm done here.

It's been a quick 5 weeks, that's for sure! I had my stuff shipped over to Dubai and they came less than a week after I got home, so I scrambled to unpack, shop, and organize. It was a little weird watching all of my things disappear into brown paper wrappings and be packed into cardboard boxes... my life reduced to a 7-digit reference number...

I saw friends and family members, tried to catch up on an entire year, showed my pictures, talked until my throat hurt, and until I felt like I was talking too much...

I took a week-long, cross-country road trip to catch up with old friends. I went to Chicago, saw my friend Nicole, her fabulous new apartment, the city she now calls home - and I loved it. Then I drove 14 hours, starting at 6am, to meet Elise in New Jersey. It was quite the drive, but I enjoyed it, having been a non-driver for almost a year. (the sun-roof doesn't hurt, either!). We caught up, hung out, even took a train to NYC for an afternoon and walked around in the hot, hot heat. Times square gave me a new definition for "overstimulation." I met the Captive Free team she's been traveling with for the past year and got to hear them rock out at an evening service. The drive back wasn't quite as thrilling, but I got to stop in Chicago for one more night. It was a great trip, even if I did spend a million dollars on gas....

I even got to visit Luther for a few minutes, catch up with one of my education professors, Jim Langholz, who helped me get my international start, and visit Kirstin, the best college roommate ever.

I caught up with everyone I could catch up with and suddenly, my time is up!
I'm excited - a bit nervous of course, but mostly excited. Being home has been great, but it's also made me realize that I've made the right decision in going to Dubai. My year in Belgium changed me in a lot of ways, and I'm not ready to come home just yet.

You may have noticed that the blog has been renamed - a blog entitled, "Brussels, Belgium" was hardly appropriate for my Middle-Eastern adventures, so here you can find "Erin in the Emirates," the cheesily-named blog where I will record everything you need to know (and probably more) about life in the biggest construction zone in the world, Dubai!!

Off to packing, now, and coming to terms with the fact that I won't be able to carry on my toothpaste and will be arriving in Dubai with stinky breath!

(The Brussels blog can now be found at http://canaryblue2.blogspot.com )