Okay, so I know I’ve been away for awhile, but I’m back! Back in Scotland, back on blogging, and back to school! Yes, yes, I have been away from the wonderful world of blogging, but I have been one busy almost 22 year old, let me tell you!
My very last final at the University of Edinburgh wasn’t until December 19—far later than I’ve ever been at school. Usually, I go home to see my folks around December 8th, but not this year. I took my final in Gaelic, jumped on a plane after a hectic swing dancing weekend, and didn’t get home to Texas until the 22nd—THREE DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS. In addition to the craziness that Christmas brings to everyone, I had to be fitted for my maid of honor dress for a wedding on January 3rd. In order to get it all done in time, I actually tried on my dress in the bathroom of Abuelo’s in Dallas on my way home from the airport. But there’s more! I got into Texas on that Monday, and Saturday I was throwing my best friend (the same one I was the maid of honor for) a bachelorette party. It was far more difficult getting used to Texas again to begin with, but with the combination of Christmas and maid of honor duties, it was darn near impossible. I think I didn’t let myself start to relax until after January 3, once Daniel and Michelle were safely away on their honeymoon.
So then after the wedding, all was great, right? No. Stressful America visit continues! I flew to Portland, Oregon, just after the wedding. Portland Fusion Exchange was incredible, though. Three days of solid lessons and social dancing, where we took the fundamentals of blues dancing, swing dancing, and tango, broke them, and then combined them to create new ways of dancing to all sorts of different types of music. After Portland, I needed to deal with some family issues in Texas, then I flew back to Edinburgh, and I started classes last week without really having had a chance to catch my breath!
Until now.
So, now that I’ve gotten myself back together, let me just say that it is HARD to jetset off between countries. I did not expect to feel that different in Texas; it’s where I’ve grown up and spent most of my life, but things were just…off somehow. Nothing dramatic, nothing big, just…off. By the time I felt like I was getting my Texas legs back, so to speak, it was off to another city and another life. The interesting thing is that in my mind, I will always consider myself a Texan. In my Scottish flat, I have a Texas flag on my wall next to my Edinburgh snapshots, I have my boots above my bed, and my ‘Howdy’ necklace looped around my beck. And yet, going back to Texas didn’t feel as welcoming as I thought it would. I’m not sure why this was, but somehow I feel that I won’t be returning to Texas full time just yet. I think I have far too much exploring to do first.
The new semester in Edinburgh looks to be a good one—I have resolved to learn Argentine tango after my experiences in Portland, and have made progress on my grad school applications. I’m flying to Washington, D.C., in a month to present research, and I have good friends who continue to teach me new things about Scotland every day. The tricky part is getting back into the groove. Getting back into the mindset of essay writing, exam planning, and tutorial preparation is always a tough one after any sort of break, but it’s just part of life. So I’m off to get my notes together for my first international business class tomorrow, and will hopefully rock the house off this new year of 2009.
Peace, y’all!
