It's also a snow day because my Midwestern home just got blasted by Snowmageddon 2011.
When I find myself with a few free moments, I sometimes find my mind drifting back to Romania...
It's been 7 months to the day since I returned to the States. I'd like to say I kept all the promises I made before I left, but I'd be lying. I've struggled through readjusting to the place I've always called home...I've epically failed at staying in touch with my loves in Romania; I've struggled through the evolutions of friendships and reuniting with my loves in the U.S.; I've been slowly integrating into life as an RPCV.
...And I have been giving everything I have within me to the 7th and 8th graders of Imagine Master Academy. You see, I was hired within a week of arriving back in the U.S. Don't get me wrong! I realize how lucky I am to be able to say that, and I love my job; but it's been hell getting myself together while trying to inspire hundreds of inner-city kids. I never had a moment to myself to adjust to my new surroundings and life. I thought it would be easy coming home. I thought I had it all figured out. I was wrong.
Getting back to Groundhog's Day...I'm sure I'm not the only one that thinks back to the Bill Murray movie of the same name. In that film Murray's character Phil says,
"When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope. Yet we know that winter is just another step in the cycle of life. But standing here among the people of Punxsutawney and basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn't imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter."
My journey and the cycle of events that are my life, are taking a turn toward the awesomeness I had planned before leaving Transylvania. I can't imagine my life without the experiences, both good and bad, in Romania and at home.
I've slowly gone through the process of moving on with life after Peace Corps. My time as a Peace Corps volunteer didn't stop because I signed some papers and returned home. Life in Peace Corps was full of adventure, pain, sadness, joy, love...life at home is full of the same. I realize that now. It seems so simple, but my heart hadn't bought into it until now.
"At some point, you gotta let go, and sit still, and allow contentment to come to you." -Eat Pray Love
I am content.
