I just landed back in the US, Houston to be exact, and I am not sure how to explain the feeling. I am thinking reintegration is going to be more of a process than a switch and I can already feel the character that came to be in South America being shaped and molded by my country. Its not good, its not bad, it just is.
The first shock came on the airplane when I heard new tones of voices that I haven't heard in a long time, many of which don't exist or are not used in Castellano. The tone of voice that comes from saying the same thing over and over and obligating passangers to fasten their seatbelts and obey the seatbelt indication light because it was turned on my someone with more experience and far "superior knowledge of weather patterns"...then again, that could just be a different culture of the US talking.
I guess you could say that I am not the same person now as I was when I came. Nor do I think that I have experienced any drastic transformations. I have however, learned how to love, learned how to feel, and learned how to live.
I am getting called to board my flight to Portland. All in all, my abroad experience is one that I will never forget. It has become a part of who I am today and I would suggest that anyone who has the opportunity to do so should take advantage of the experience.
After 17 days of nonstop travel and nearly 6 months of adventuring, Jazmín and I said a tearfull goodbye at the airport. I am not usually one to cry in public, but I cried. I think it has something to do with the fact that I have lived 6 months in a culture that is not embarassed to feel and it has rubbed off on my. Speaking the language is more emotional too, each sentance unravels with emotion and is accompanied by gestures of all kind.
As Mom always says:
Goodbye is never goodbye, its just a "see you later."
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