Becoming Reacquainted with Home

I can now say that I am home. I have been home for a little over a week. The past few months feel like they have been a dream. For the past three months I really have been living in Italy. It feels like I have been barely been gone, though. Just to reinforce that, when my flight from Pittsburgh back in September left, I bored from gate 6. Then when my plane landed in Pittsburgh last week, I arrived at gate 6. The same gate. I felt like I had just stepped outside for a few minutes.

There were some adjustments to being home. For one, I had to reacquaint myself with driving. In Rome I could hop on a bus to get wherever. In some ways I have grown fond of those buses. I will admit I hated how crowded they got. Yet they freed me from the responsibility of focusing on the road. That newfound free time could be used to talk to my friends. I missed driving, though. The car is much less cramped and I know that the car will get me to where I am going much faster than a bus.

Being at home makes speaking much easier too. Everyone here speaks English. It is a relief not having to think about how to say what I want to say. Speaking Italian everyday was for me, though. I thrived under that challenge. Theres definately pros and cons to both.

Beyond any of those, the biggest adjustment to coming home is see how much those I left behind I have changed. While I was seeing the world, life at home continued. My parents continued going to work, my friends continued going to class, new relationships formed, some relationships ended. Life continued racing ahead. Mine had raced ahead as well, in a different direction, though. Coming back home, so many disjointed paths have rejoined. Making sense of it all, though, brings alot of joy. We all have so many stories to tell each other. The places our paths took us, what adventures we had, the foes we conquered, and the friends we made: all this brings new light to the friendships I am finding again after three months.

In many ways I am returning to a home the same and a home different. I am coming back a person the same yet different. Seeing how life develops from this point will be a joy-filled time.