Home Again

It's Sunday evening, the 23rd of August. I'm back home, safe and sound, in my family's house in the States, still reeling from my full and crazy weekend. It all seems so surreal...

I'm still exhausted physically, mentally, emotionally. It's so strange to be home where everything is so familiar yet so changed. Or maybe it's just me who has changed. I look out my window and can't get over how beautiful my Indiana countryside is, but I find myself still looking for those Dominican mountains. I've had such a fun day with my family and friends here, but I can't help desperately missing my SI family and friends. I'm torn and disoriented, happy and sad, surrounded and lonely, comfortable and uncomfortable, wanting to share with someone but perhaps not yet. And just exhausted. I need sleep. Ah, re-entry just sucks. Things will get better for sure, after I've had a lot more sleep and maybe a good cry.

Tomorrow morning I'll be starting to get into the old routine again and I have to admit I'm kind of looking forward to it. I've missed the seasonal rhythms of the farm and home and am actually looking forward to tractors, dairy cows, and phyiscal labor again. I'll also be starting my junior year of college and aside from the fact that I'm still so tired, I feel mentally ready to hit the books.

It's going to be a full fall with work, school, a trip to Montana with Adrienne, hopefully a trip to Chicago with some of the summer interns, Lisa and Katrina going to several Civil War re-enactments, Katrina auditioning for a drama that rehearses in Kalamazoo, Mom and Dad's schedules, and whatever else pops up (something ALWAYS pops up). But I'm looking forward to it and know I will cherish these last several months with all of us at home. It will probably be the last time we will all live together.

I'll work on posting my final SI project (a short promotional video) sometime in the next couple of days.