Exuent Alex
Well, here I am, once again sitting at an airport departure gate. A few
hours ago, I said goodbye to my Dad, my sister, and my niece. Which
reminds me: I forgot to say goodbye to the dogs. Unfortunate, but
they're just dogs, I doubt they'll care. This is the last time I'll
probably see any of them for at least three years, so I'm not exactly
thrilled right now.
My life seems made up of a series of departures. As such, I've come to
a conclusion about them: departures stink. In coming back to Guinea,
I've discovered that, while not exactly as nice as I remembered (if the
term "nice" can ever be used to describe this country), it's still very
much home to me. Thus, while I am looking forward to such things a
seeing my friends again, having daily internet access, seeing the rest
of my family (U.S. side), oh yes, and having 24 hour electricity, I
still want to stay here... sort of.
As I once told someone at Mercer (who now doesn't talk to me, what's up
with that?) the U.S. doesn't make sense, and neither does Guinea.
However, I understand Guinea's nonsense, while so much at "home" remains
an incomprehensible pattern of lunacy. It has been both a privelege and
a pleasure to be able to spend the summer with my family in a place that
I can understand.
Be that as it may, I can't go to college in Guinea, so it is by my own
choice that I dive back into the loony bin. Armed with a partial
understanding of the culture and with a renewed joy of living, I'm ready
to spend another year in America. I can't promise anything for the two
years after that, but if living in the U.S. destroys me, I'll go down
like a Brazilian: making fun of it to the last.
Hey, let's not dwell on the sad things, right? I'm going to see my
friends soon, friends who, in conjunction with my parents, have helped
keep me sane over the course of the past year. Thank you all; only an
assortment of highly qualified -no, highly dedicated- individuals, such
as yourselves could have pulled it off. Special thanks goes to: Kellen
and Stephanie, my advisers; Rich, for being just as crazy as me;
Cheyenne, for helping me pack; Mark, for being my friend at Tabernacle
when I had so very few; William, for letting me hang out with you and
borrow your books; and Kurt, for helping me work out the roommate mess.
Being around y'all and having my mom in the States for the next month is
going to make it a lot easier to get into the swing of things.
hours ago, I said goodbye to my Dad, my sister, and my niece. Which
reminds me: I forgot to say goodbye to the dogs. Unfortunate, but
they're just dogs, I doubt they'll care. This is the last time I'll
probably see any of them for at least three years, so I'm not exactly
thrilled right now.
My life seems made up of a series of departures. As such, I've come to
a conclusion about them: departures stink. In coming back to Guinea,
I've discovered that, while not exactly as nice as I remembered (if the
term "nice" can ever be used to describe this country), it's still very
much home to me. Thus, while I am looking forward to such things a
seeing my friends again, having daily internet access, seeing the rest
of my family (U.S. side), oh yes, and having 24 hour electricity, I
still want to stay here... sort of.
As I once told someone at Mercer (who now doesn't talk to me, what's up
with that?) the U.S. doesn't make sense, and neither does Guinea.
However, I understand Guinea's nonsense, while so much at "home" remains
an incomprehensible pattern of lunacy. It has been both a privelege and
a pleasure to be able to spend the summer with my family in a place that
I can understand.
Be that as it may, I can't go to college in Guinea, so it is by my own
choice that I dive back into the loony bin. Armed with a partial
understanding of the culture and with a renewed joy of living, I'm ready
to spend another year in America. I can't promise anything for the two
years after that, but if living in the U.S. destroys me, I'll go down
like a Brazilian: making fun of it to the last.
Hey, let's not dwell on the sad things, right? I'm going to see my
friends soon, friends who, in conjunction with my parents, have helped
keep me sane over the course of the past year. Thank you all; only an
assortment of highly qualified -no, highly dedicated- individuals, such
as yourselves could have pulled it off. Special thanks goes to: Kellen
and Stephanie, my advisers; Rich, for being just as crazy as me;
Cheyenne, for helping me pack; Mark, for being my friend at Tabernacle
when I had so very few; William, for letting me hang out with you and
borrow your books; and Kurt, for helping me work out the roommate mess.
Being around y'all and having my mom in the States for the next month is
going to make it a lot easier to get into the swing of things.