On Being Home

The way I look at things, Ecuador is not over. I am no longer there, but the experience of study abroad is definitely still going for me. I feel like it's one of those things that will always be in me, it never really ends. I'm still working on "closure" if you will, from Ecuador.

I am going through culture shock being back in the US again. It's weird. I like it, but it's definitely weird. I was talking to Noah yesterday (he came over and we made butter mochi and watched the beginning of my illegal $2 Avatar that I bought in Quito the day before I left) and in some cases, yes, home and these places I know have changed, but more apparent is how much I've changed looking at them that makes them feel so different while still being exactly the same.

Things That Feel Different to Me:

• how much calmer and less frantic Hawaii and the US feels
• everything is expensive!!
• not speaking Spanish on a daily basis or at least hearing it at some point during the day
• not having to constantly worry about my personal safety
• the obvious wealth the US and its citizens have and how much more things are used and wasted
• feeling distinctly adult-like and being in my house I've lived in all my life and definitely feeling like a visitor rather than living there
• being warm and wearing shorts in public (not so different, but I like it)
• how very very small Hawaii once again feels to me
  

Regardless, I am happy to be home and back in the US, although yes, I do feel the loss of Ecuador in my heart, once again proving to me how much long-distance relationships suck and the one down-side to being a child of globalization.