The first time

Today Becca read "On Chisel Beach" by Ian McElwan. WOAH. This book is the tale of two virgins wedding night, and besides being really graffic and disgusting, it also is startlingly how English they are. I think that after living here, I can appreciate little quirks of English life that are presented in books, movies or television more than before; in this book certain mannerisms or behaviors of the characters made us laugh out loud as we realized how they eerily remind us of things our English acquaintences do. It is always exciting to pick up on little things like that. In the movie Layer Cake, for example, there is a line "Even drug dealers don't work weekends." Before coming here I would not have appreciated that at all! (Many places, including shops, are closed on weekends here. It can be frustrating, but its kind of relaxing, knowing that certain things just can't be done til Monday and you simply have to make do. It isn't just time off for the employees, its actually time off for us too!) Little things like that are quite exciting.

It is also the first of many goodbyes. James is leaving tomorrow. It seems unreal that he is leaving. We will all miss having him pop around so often. He is technically a "neighbor kid" on the Flat 47 portrait, but in reality he is like a cousin who we might be legally adopting. I don't want to say goodbye!

The first goodbye is going to be hard to say. I never wanted this to happen! I hate goodbyes. Isn't it strange that after only 4.5 months, saying goodbye is just as hard as it was to say to all the people we left back at home? With a compressed time frame, the people I have met skipped many of the formalities and slow progressions that usually make deep friendships. They are markedly different than many of those I have at home, but in no way are they less important to me or lacking closeness. I'm turning so sappy. This is what goodbyes do to me.

It is odd that our time here is almost over, and that it was such a short period of time. I think the length of time I was here has been good, and has whetted my appetite for more. I cannot wait to travel again! Living a much simpler life--dial up internet, no real phone, no TV or radio, and limited resources have made me, and I think others here, focus a lot more on relationships here. I'm excited to travel more, and hopefully get to see more of the US than I have. If anyone is interested, we should plan a trip. Once, you know, we all get jobs and our bank accounts recover and our credit cards are paid off.