I know I was keeping you in suspense, but I have, in fact, safely returned from Africa.
I got in Friday (I think) after a whirlwind 27-hour jaunt from the summery Southern Hemisphere. The weekend was high energy, reconnecting with Jackie and James, seeing my soon-to-be new house at Tufts, missing a concert (there's a story there, one that I will certainly tell later), finally having a pint of Guinness with Chase, Graham and Jen, watching even what I consider to be an absurd amount of football and Studio 60 and Family Guy and Boston Legal (I don't care what you say, Caitlin, it's still a good show), indulging in a Destino's Cheese Steak (I didn't even stop at home, I went straight there from the airport) and mom's pasta and, yes, some Taco Bell, making many a phone call, notably to most of you, unpacking, laundry, and, eventually, some rest. Today is my first real down day since I got back, the snow outside an ample metaphor for my mood and the amount of motivation I have to do anything. This peaceful, tranquil New England morning broken only by the strains of iTunes blaring my new 'African Soundscape' mix, a collection of 16 songs which best embody my time in Africa (The Slip's "Nellie Jean" is currently playing).
My return, as I thought, has been bittersweet. I am so happy to be home again with my old friends and my old familiarity, but I already miss so much of what made my South Africa experience great: the people (there will never again be an assembly I will hold in such high esteem as those solid friends I made there), the experiences (not just cricket and wine tasting, I promise), the sights and sounds and smells and textures and all of the perceptions and all of the realities that South Africa is, is not and could be. These four months have been an incredible time and I hope I've been able to impart in some small way how great it has all been. I don't know if I've yet been able to come to terms for myself with all that I experienced, I know for certain I haven't been able to write it well enough to you despite my best efforts. I hope I have entertained you and perhaps even provoked some thoughts about the wider world for you. I also hope that some of you who are reading this will find your way to South Africa soon. It is truly an awe-inspiring, if damaged and transitioning place, one that is worth beholding for yourself. And if you ever want a tour guide, I'm in.
There are more entries to come here, or at least one more. When Dad gets back from Germany, he will tell you of his experiences in Cape Town and along the Garden Route. And, let me tell you, we should all hope to have experiences like his for ourselves, so don't miss that one.
But for now, this marks the end of this phase of the journey. The story will continue however. As most of you know, I enjoy hearing the sound of my own voice, so for any of you who care to indulge me, I will be continuing to blog in the coming weeks and months about life in America, my journey towards graduation and beyond, with a few careless thoughts on baseball and politics thrown in along the way. That blog will be at a different address: http://theory-in-practice.blogspot.com - log on there to follow Theory in Practice: A Pink Polo Production.
Thank you all for reading, and I hope to see and hear from you all in the near future.
Cheers.
---
One last note. If you're looking for different perspective on the South African journey, a couple of my friends have also been blogging along the way. So surf on over and read their now collected works.
Christine's "Apostrophe" - http://cmc421.blogspot.com
Adrienne's "South African Semester" - http://vanycrsa.blogspot.com
Totsiens.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment