Some Thoughts

5/6/09
Cara, Tami, Caroline, Jamie and I have been responding to a thread on facebook. Cara started it when she arrived home and it inadvertently became a means of communication for the 5 of us. Cara and Tami have mentioned how hard it is to be back home and away from everything that is Cape Town. Cara sounds on the border of depression and Tami empathizes, adding that she believes her family and friends are tired of hearing about her Cape Town adventure. It reminds me (on a much smaller scale) of Burn Camp. Even though it’s only a week’s time, returning back to the “real world” is always an adjustment. Each summer, it takes me a day or two to become a fully functioning human being again. It’s mostly because it takes that long to wash the bug spray and dirt from your skin, and to catch up on the 95 hours of sleep that were lost. But it’s also because the experience you share is profound, and the people you share it with are rare. You have this short but intense circumstance, and then you wake up one day and it’s gone. Your life is completely different. Everything that you knew (that became your universe) is gone; the people, the places, the smells, the routine. Just like that, you are left floating; trying to find your footing again. You do it, because the human body is remarkable like that. Eventually, you get back on track and you continue forward. Because it’s all we can do. We hold on to the memories and take the lessons and experiences with us…and onto the next adventure.

I learned earlier this week that I will be getting a roommate on May 18th. She is from New York City. I will certainly miss having my own room, but that's not what I signed up for. Soooo I look forward to meeting yet another new face and sharing this fabulous apartment! The only thing that sits in the back of my mind is that I gather that she is young…as in 20. That’s an awfully small room to be sharing with someone who could be so drastically different. However, I know it’s not fair to judge a person on age….or anything for that matter. I’m just going to embrace the change and make the best of it. Worse case scenerio: it’s only 5 weeks.

Lucy and I had a conversation on the way home from yoga about traveling. She mentioned that, while she loves traveling, she doesn’t think it’s good for you. I begged her to explain…Lucy went on to say that traveling, in a sense, spoils you; it makes your own city/country seem boring. Hence, those who travel would be bored all the time. She added that those who don’t travel are living in blissful ignorance. While I see her point, I don’t necessarily agree. I think traveling also helps you to appreciate where you come from. When you travel, you miss all the things and people you are living without. Those things are that much more gratifying when you return home. Furthermore, I am all for any endeavor that expands your knowledge. I am always so entertained to learn the differences among myself and those I visit. To learn about the way OTHER people were brought up and the ways they practice and the TV shows and music they were exposed to, and the children’s songs they sang and how they spent their childhood. I think traveling has given me a better understanding of where I’m from. For example, why certain laws exist: Being in an environment that is without those same laws is a first hand experience as to why that law was a good idea. While I can attest to both DEstructive and CONstructive ideas of any place, I believe it an advantage to have the ability to weigh and understand those opposing ideas.