Life is elsewhere
October 09, 2006
Hey guys�
So quite a few of you have emailed asking where I�ve been, checking up on me, etc. Well, here I am. At least for a moment.
In the early days of the internet, when I was still living in Kuwait, communication with friends who had moved away was conducted through a combination of emails and good ole handwritten letters. I always liked to put a little something special in my letters�confetti and glitter, pictures, dried flowers, whatever. Just something to make it more than a letter. I sent one such letter in an envelope filled with sparkly black stars to my friend Jen who had returned to Texas after two years in Kuwait to find that her boyfriend, who had promised to be true in her absence, had actually moved on. For some reason, her emailed response to that letter has stuck with me. After filling me in on the heartbreaking tale of her�well, heartbreak, she promised to write more once she got �out from under all these black stars.�
I guess I�ve been waiting to get out from under the black stars, which is why you haven�t heard from me in a while.
If the first half of July was one of the best periods I�ve experienced in Egypt, then the second half of July to the end of August was one of the worst.
Luckily (not) it seems that my head or my heart is surrounded by a thick layer of gelatin which prevents emotional information from being processed and dealt with immediately, so that similar to what happens with a jell-o shot, the information hits me really hard and at a much later period.
That is to say that while I made it through August with flying colors, I spent most of September hiding under the covers, or at least wishing I could. But I could not. There was too much to do. Too many people to care for.
Luckily (really this time) I made some awesome new friends who, along with the old ones, were good at keeping my mind off things. By mid-September I was feeling much better, and really excited about all the new experiences coming my way. Even if one of those new, exciting experiences is not�as you might have already heard or guessed�moving to Belfast.
It�s okay. Everything has its time and place. I never thought I�d be in Egypt for as long as I have been, but here I am, and willingly. Sure, some days I want to scream, but most days I look upon my kingdom of good experiences, great bonds formed, and vast emotional growth, and it is good.
A year ago today I returned from Ireland. A month from now, I might be making a brief return to America. Though I will keep this diary up, I am not sure when or how often I will be returning to write here. I just don�t have much to say these days. Or maybe it�s that I have too much to say, but not the words, the inclination, or the energy to say it well.
So thanks for asking after me, and for reading. I�ll be around.
Toodles,
Newgy