Sitting on the couch in my parents living room. Been in Atlanta for five days now and still haven’t managed to wrap my mind around this past year. On paper, it seems so outrageous. This unsustainable life that went on longer than I probably deserve. I fear becoming one of those annoying people who manage to relate every conversation back to “this one time when I was traveling in such and such, such and such did the funniest such and such…it was awesome, but I guess you really had to be there.” Thank god for this blog, so that maybe I won’t feel so inclined to repeat many of the experiences I wrote about. Reintegrating myself back into family life has been completely fine. Seamless, in fact. Everything’s as if I never left. It’s like the days before I left have been mirrored onto these past few. My room is still in shambles…full of boxes, suitcases, and scattered clothes. I’ve met with many of the same people for meals and words…hello’s in place of goodbye’s. And I’m still in this kind of in between place, waiting to get somewhere else. For now, that other place is Chapel Hill. After spending the 4th of July in Highlands, I’ll be moving back into The Blue House (with some new and old housemates) and will hopefully find some sort of employment to carry me through the summer. Or that’s the plan anyways.
I just re-read that list I made of all the things I missed about life in America. Let’s see…I’m on the couch as we speak, and it’s more comfortable than I remembered. I’m waiting to reinstate Netflix when I get back to the Blue House(<-also where my bike will be waiting). I’ve had sushi twice and sweated through a non-air-conditioned dinner at Panahar tonight. Mom and I went for a much-needed manicure on my first day back, and the heat lightning that lit up the sky last night was a site for sore eyes. Regarding my clothes: I made it to Goodwill on my second day back, but mostly to drop off bags of unwanted stuff. Coming back and seeing everything I lived without made me really stressed by how immobile my life is. With who knows how many moves ahead of me, I think it’s a good time to start giving my closet a deep cleansing. Also, I’m trying to go through the thousands of photos I took over the last 10 months and pick out some to print. I went into this project with the mindset that I would only choose the ones that I absolutely love. I’m about halfway through and already have 237. This is going to be one expensive photo album. I’m excited to get up to the mountains this weekend, to see my friends who are meeting me and also to get outta this awful heat. Grunting complaints escape my mouth every time I walk outside. It really is hot as hell here. And my discontent is only partly amplified by the contrast to English weather. I know this because I can hear everyone else complaining just as much. I attempted to run outside a few times, but I think I scared the housekeeper today when I came inside and began marching circles around the kitchen with a wet paper towel on my head and my hands fanning around my bright red face, panting and wheezing all the while.
Ok, I’ve been watching The Graduate while writing this, and it’s getting to the part where Benjamin breaks up the wedding. So that’s my cue to go.
