Last Friday, I finally got over to Good Shepherd Center to coach a little basketball. The center is an orphanage in Makeevka, where our fellow MCC worker, Andrew Geddert, works. Andrew has been trying to get me to do it for several weeks now, but I have always felt like I had too much to do and I didn't want to make the trip. We usually allow around 1.5 hours for the trip even though it is probably less than 10 miles. Andrew was persistent and I finally (reluctantly) agreed to go.
For the first 1.5 hours, we taught a lay-ups and ball handling to a group of 8 boys, ranging from 12-15 years of age. For the last 1.5 hours we did the same thing for a group of 6 girls from the same age range. Even though the skill level was not quite what I was used to coaching in Arizona, it was still really fun and I hope they learned something. It reminded me how much I love interacting with youth and coaching basketball.
I traveled home and was inspired to hunt down the campus tv and vcr to watch a videotape of the team I coached in AZ. Those of you who know me well know that this is a part of my life that has been very important to me the last 2+ years. Needless to say, it is something that I have really missed this last winter. During the season, I emailed the head coach regularly to check up on the team and he was kind enough to reply and even send me a tape of one of the games. I received it over 3 weeks ago, but put off watching it. I was scared that it would give me an unnecessarily strong dose of homesickness.
Homesickness is something that Laura and I have been dealing with a lot recently. It happens at expected times (watching a video of my basketball team) and unexpected times (seeing a Taco Bell ad during the Super Bowl). And we respond in different ways at different times. Sometimes I want to talk the ears off of anyone who will listen, while other times I just want to sit quietly and space out. I rarely get to the point where I want to catch a bus to the airport and fly home, but it is still rather difficult.
People said that the "honeymoon" would wear off after a few months and maybe it has. However, negative as this posting may sound, we're enjoying ourselves and we think we are listening to our call to serve others. We are finding countless ways to be entertained (and to entertain)... when you don't know the language there is no end to the adventures or the laughs.
-Dave
