on our way to lisbon

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Two months from today is June 14. June 14 is the day I board a plane in Paris with two fully stuffed oversized bags and head back to the US. It will have been nearly 7 months since I was stateside…my longest time away yet.

June 14. When I get home it will be less than 3 weeks until my 22nd birthday. My hair will have grown, my wallet will have shrunk and my entire view on the world will have been challenged, shaped and redefined. I won’t have a job, a bedroom or even a key to my parents’ house. My car will mysteriously have a couple thousand more miles on it (don’t think I don’t know you drove it all winter, Dad!) and it will take me a few days to even remember how to drive again. I’ll be able to make purchases without doing 5 conversions in my head and English will be sufficient to get me around. I remember coming home last summer and feeling many kinds of reverse culture shock and re-entry difficulties…I honestly can’t even imagine what it will be like this time around.

On another note, I received an interesting comment about my Sufi blog in Turkey. Basically I was told the ceremony I attended was an illegal tarikat or religious brotherhood. Google says they were banned in 1925 and not all of them are equally dangerous. I really don’t know what any of this means & I’m not even sure the thing I attended was one of these illegal tarikats, but I’m definitely interested in learning more about it.

Tomorrow is Lisbon and I’m glad to have a day off the boat. The general mood here is frustration, stress and sadness, despite being done with classes and exams. I think we’ve all just realized our days left on this floating world are very numbered!

I hope to find internet tomorrow and upload pictures, so expect another blog =) xo

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Comments

[Mom]

You've come a long way, baby!
Hard to believe you're finishing up. The experience certainly ended differently than it started! Enjoy your last few days. You've made some nice friends and you'll be able to hook up again...somewhere in the world! Love you, Mom p.s. we left your car in the garage and didn't drive it this time!

[Dad]

MEGS
we'll leave a key to the house under the door mat. Your car is worth more now than when you parked it; it's full of $2.50/gallon gasoline.

[Big Papi]

byaah
hey meg, you can crash with your little bro. we've got an extra bedroom for you to stay in. have fun in europe and be safe!