From the other side of the Atlantic

I made it! I am in the States! I am surprised by all the things that were once familiar and that today seem foreign to me. It starts with all the little details, the smiling clerk at immigration (gasp!), the organized line of people waiting to be helped in the air conditioned room, and the paper liner in the airport's restroom. It all continues with the big: the size of my portion of fries, the parking spaces (and for that matter, the parking lots), and the people around me.

I see everything anew, and I am waking up to flavors, and faces and the familiarity of a language I know well. I am perplexed at the availability of things, the open hours, the prices! I find it a little overwhelming, in a very positive way!

I have watched TV looking for old favorites, I have eaten a hamburger (SOOOO good!) and Thai, and I have plans for Mexican today. I have browsed through books and magazines for hours at a time, and I have been to the mall for what seemed to be months! And this is just one day of my week!

I am not in California, but in Atlanta, where we have family. The only problem is that our family is not here, so I am boarding at their house, and using their car, but I am by myself. I have some friends in the area, and I am seeing them, but the majority of the time it is just me.

Just me, standing at the border between the known and the forgotten. Again.