Cara's Back from Africa!

Two years ago, my best friend moved to Africa to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer. And this weekend, we welcomed her home to America... for good.

It's an odd feeling. Having her back. To be truthful, I feel like she never left. I saw her every chance I got when she made visits back. I emailed her. I chatted with her on Gchat. I read her blog and stalked her Facebook pictures. Honestly, I probably kept in touch better with her than I did friends I have living in the U.S., or heck, even living here in St. Louis. 

When she left, I just kept saying the two years would fly by. And they did... sort of. I keep thinking that nothing has changed since she left. That were still 'just out' of college, trying to make our way in this crazy world of 'adulthood' and 'responsibility'. 

But then... I think of all that has happened in two years. We both moved into our first apartments; learned to grocery shop, clean, budget and cook for ourselves (I have a hunch she learned better than I did, though). We both got jobs that, when we started, were pretty loosely defined, yet we were able to find structure and success. She was on TV in Morocco. I was on MTV. We've made trips to DC, Colorado, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, London, Paris, Spain, and Israel (the latter part of this list is hers, and considerably cooler). And together, we visited Rome and Morocco.

It's crazy to think how much we've grown in the last years. And I love knowing that we were there for each other that whole time.... even though we were thousands of miles apart. Now, Cara will be in and out of town all summer on law school tours, trips to visit friends, and working some in NYC and DC. And then, in the fall, it's off to law school in whatever city she chooses. But we made it work for two years while she was in Africa, so I think we'll be fine... as long as Gchat doesn't shut down.