For all of you who have been living in a yurt for the past three weeks, I'm back in the U.S. Sorry for the long long wait for this more domestic update but it's been a real shock to the system.
I wish I could detail all of the amazing times I've had this week but it would probably be the millionth level of boring unless you were there so here are the highlights:
I watched Caitlin flank in Newark, snagged a Jersey area code for my new number, broke down in a bus on the way to Manassas, discovered the beer and candy bar I left myself on my truck seat as a present for when I picked it up, cooked falafel for some of uncwrfc in chapel hill, destroyed Daniel's kitchen in chapel hill, saw Meredith Carter's weird bloated up appendicitis stomach, went to the Speakeasy festival in Atlanta, ate cookie dough with Kelsey Merlo and Michelle Wilco, pit stopped at the top of the St. Louis Arch, ate BBQ and drank a local brew at my dad's (and my) favorite Kansas City BBQ place, met up with Devin and Ruth in Denver, saw tour de fat, climbed to royal arch with David Mulcahy, ate an enormous (and delicious) brunch courtesy of my cousin taylor, saw Adam Lane smile at an old woman in Rocky Mountain National Park, saw some Pika, froze, went to dinner with my Aunt Linda and Uncle Paul in a rockin' tiny Colorado town, got mistaken for an irresponsible mother in Raton, New Mexico, saw loads of family (and surprise family home movies) in El Paso, got a fabulous new hair cut and color from my talented cousin Felicia, had dinner with Roro (and his best brahs), went to Mexico, wandered down the beach in San Diego, learned how to wakeboard and fish with my cousin Shelly (& co.), and had my own mini Rosh Hashanah celebration in a Starbucks in La Jolla.
It's been quite a ride.
Now with all of these fantastic things happening all around me all the time, one would think that it's been a snap coming back to the states. But in the back of my mind, I've been dwelling on the thought that I've graduated and am going back to my home town with no job to bum around. Now there's no shame in that. None at all. But tell that to the nagging feeling in the back of my brain.
See, there's that stereotype in the US of the kid that goes home not knowing what they're doing with their life after high school or college and 15 years later they're still living in their parents basement working their 5th minimum wage job in as many months. It never works quite like that though does it? Chances are you just had a few hard knocks. You're staying at home to save money so you can be more stable in the near future. You want to save for school or a car or a home. You're doing the smart responsible thing but ...
... we're taught to look feel a little ashamed of it. Like going home means permanent defeat.
So coming back has been sad. It's been defeating. It's been hard. But not for any real reasons. Mostly because I'm in my head.
And what better time to cast off all of these misconceptions and chart a new course than Rosh Hashanah? It's time to figure out what I've done in the past year and try to imagine myself in the coming year. It's time to sort out concrete steps to achieve those goals and to really carry the blessings I've been given in the past year into the new one.
Luckily, I will still have the love and support of the same network that has ferried me across America in the coming year and that's about all I need.
Sacramento bound. Currently in San Diego.
