Five Things I Missed About America

My trip back to NY has been round-about. Last week, I flew from Fes to Casablanca, from Casablanca to London, and from London to Keflavik, Iceland. I had 12 hours in iceland, from 10pm-10am. I expected to sleep in the airport most of this time, as it was nighttime and Keflavik is not known for its night life. Sure enough, the town was dark, everything was closed, and everyone was sleeping. But it was LIGHT! I had forgotten that Iceland is above the Tropic of Cancer, so in the summertime it never gets dark!

I wandered out of the airport, about 3km to the village. I stopped to sketch some of the bushes of Blue Lupine that grew in vast fields there; it was beautiful! The landscape stretched out a few kilometers of flat fields of lupine and lichen and little alpine flowers before disappearing into a ubiquitous sea-mist. I walked to the water, climbed over the boulders surrounding the harbor, and put my feet in the Icelandic sea. I was lucky to be dressed Moroccan-traveler style - wearing ALL the clothing I was bringing home at once - or it would have been cold.

The next morning, I flew from Keflavik to Boston, sitting next to a couple returning from an Icelandic honeymoon. Excited from their travels, they were eager to show me pictures of their adventures, so I got the highlights of the rest of Iceland: geysers, lava fields, volcano, waterfalls...

I spent the rest of the week in MA at my family reunion, on a little island with my extended family, hiking, swimming, horsebackriding, singing, and eating good American food. I went with my family and Steve to my cousin Jennifer's wedding at a casino on the beach of Atlantic City, and am now back in Schenectady with my cat, Tsen.

The night before I left Morocco, I was walking around Fes with Mel, another American teacher who will be switching to a different Moroccan school in the fall. We listed so many things that we would miss about Fes, and, looking for a happier note, she asked what I would be happy to have in America for the summer.

1. My family - my parents and sister, but also everyone that I got to see at the reunion and Jennifer's wedding.

2. Steve - as an adventure buddy and the ringleader of the pack of gamers, and someone with whom I can share anything, it's nice even to be in the same time zone as him, much less the same city.

3. Dancing. All kinds. Message me if you're in my area and you want to come. It's my favorite social activity.

4. The ability to take food and a book outside and sit on the grass in the sun.

5. Cake. Maybe because Morocco excels so well in desert department, they don't do so well with the desserts.

It is a bit funny to be back in a culture that shouldn't feel foreign, but does. I've lived almost my whole life here; this culture should be so ingrained in me that it's effortless. But it's not. Not entirely. At least, not yet.