And Now? Now What?

One month later.


(Making a grocery run for my mom...)

For one, I drove there. Passing two rather very larged sized American men on small mopeds. Taking the turns slowly at about 5MPH. (Miles?...yeah.)

Walk in, and talk to a few friends working. Grad what I need, and wait in the grocery line.

[Cashier]

"HI, how are you? Did you find everything ok?"


Like, obviously if I still wanted something I would be looking for it still. Or I would have asked someone by now, because really. Who whould stop the cashier to go look for something that clearly is not in the store?!

-Yeah.

"That's good."

[Plastic coke bottle falls to side when the belt moves...]

"Oh I am so sorry, would you like another one?"

Um seriously, why on Earth would would I request another coke? This one is cleary fine. Plastic.

Like what the heeck?

-No this one is fine.

"Out of twenty? Here's your change. Do you want a bag for this or..?"

-No that's fine I can carry it. (...the one onion and coke.)

...Saving the environment and all, of course.

"Have a nice day!"





This is AMERICAN. All of it! And it will sometimes just drive me insane. What a boring story, and I can tell you that every single event here was American. The fact that we have a bagger, or how the person infront of me was asked if they want paper or plastic? At the last Spanish grocery story we were at they were charging 25 or 50 Euro cents for each plastic bag you used. And you bag your own bags. If you don't bag fast enough, you get run over by the nest person's belongings falling down to your end.

And the whole entire event is done in silence...most of the times.


Unfortunately the blog I wrote before this was deleted when my computer lost internet. So here's what I remember.

One month later, and the world continues what it's been doing for the past however many billions of years scientists think the Earth is. NASA missions have been cancled, the economy of Greece has crashed, and the world still isn't happy. But that's the world. Coming home was like picking up the same book you fell asleep reading. You have to backtrack a bit and find out where exactly you are, but you're on the same page, with the same story, and you just continue to read.

My year feels real. I lived ten months away from "home". But I'm the only one who really feels anything, or cares too much. If my thoughts were written down, I'd be the only one to read them. The little things I notice I don't even bother to said outloud.

Because no one has read the same book I have. It's like written in code, and it's not even worth translating.

But the changes aren't dramatic. I don't feel totally different. I'm not a new identity.

It's not like the presidential election, where you go around campaigning your return. No. Infact, I have done quite the opposite. I still haven't seen most of the people I know in this town, and have hid the computer out of sight for quite some time. I really don't like the computer. It's not that I'm avoiding people, I just have so much cyber catch up to do. The overwhelmingness of using a phone is like a responsibility, and keeping up with my old friends, new ones, and everyone in between has just been...a lot. And I kind of got out of it by putting my computer under my bed for about two weeks.

That was put away when I cleaned my room. For a house showing. Yep. We're moving....

About a thousand miles south.

There's been a lot of behind-the-scenes type of events I haven't posted on my blog. But yes, about one or two weeks before I left Spain I found out my dad found a new job he likes, and we will be moving.

Time will tell when, so I'm finishing my senior year at the ol' great American high school I know best. That's just one small event from behind the scenes. Another event includes a double suicide in our small town, one girl being the other goalie on our hockey team. That was back a few months ago.

So sometimes I wonder if there was any more type of extreme changes possible why I was gone. And of course there are more extreme, but I did have an interesting road. Well traveled. Unpaved, but well traveled.

There's a bunch of random things I want to write about, but I can't seem to ever really remember them. The reverse culture shock isn't really shock...just annoyances. Things that silently make you... mad.

I still feel harassed by store clerks. I think that one will stick for a bit longer. The door handles aren't a problem after like day 6. Nothing in particular jumps out at me. We are served GIGANTIC portions of food in restaurants, and we'll waste gas just going around the parking lot to find the nearest spot, but overall, things are normal.

Well... Americans are strange. I'll admit that. Coming back is kind of like learning how to socialize again. Except the process is a million times quicker, even though it may not feel like it sometimes.

Just another typical day.
-mb