Time for America.

Forgive my absence, but as you all have learned throughout reading my blog, transitions can be cumbersome. Readjusting back to the pace of America, the rush, the endless to-do lists and the silly required meetings left me spiraling and yearning for the life I created in the Middle East. Slowly but surely I feel the pain subsiding from reentering back into this never-ending rush of life. In this college town of Gainesville I find myself irked at people complaining about having to walk in the heat, or wait in a line. At least three times I day I force myself to stop and literally smell flowers, or a hum a song, or walk slowly, or just count my blessings. I will not enter back into a life will endless stress outlets. Life is short and if I only learned one thing while I was away it was to experience today. Life is delicious and experiencing every aspect of it is what defines you. I wrote a poem that I think sums up the last two years of my life.

Finding you
Isn’t about a moment
Isn’t about an instant
It is a series
Of moments
That create you.
Turning inward
Reflecting on what you know
Realizing you know nothing
And humbly discovering
Both
Your beauty
And your countless flaws
But choosing
To love yourself
Flaws and all.
It is
Going outside yourself
Learning
Who you are
And Who you are not
Testing your morals
Falling
Gasping
And surviving
Confident
Of the choices
That you have made
No regrets.
Only growth.
Finding you
is beautiful.

Soon I will be adding a new addition to my blog. For all of you future study abroad-ers out there, I will be posting the how-to's and how-come's of studying abroad. From how to apply to what to pack, I hope this will turn into a great outlet for you to learn from what I experienced, avoid some mistakes and hopefully find some study abroad scholarships while you're at it! Feel free to email me or leave a comment with any things you'd like to see included in this new section of the blog, and/or questions.
On a side note, I am very grateful to be an American. You never truly realize how lucky you are to be able to blog without fear of being arrested, or walk around without being arrested for suspicion of being a homosexual (like a teacher of mine from AUC) or speak openly and critique our government. Us Americans, we have it good. I appreciate my liberties and I love my country. I'm home, America.