Ruminations

          Much has happened in the last month. It's all a blur with islands of sharply rendered memories. It would be overwhelming if not for my usual tactic of burying everything deeply. In time and pieces it will all return, like seeds that sprout or moths from cocoons, not looking much like what preceded but coming from it all the same. In short, my car died, I went on a ten-day trip to El Salvador, I read The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series (including the appendices at the end of the third book) during that trip and now I wait in Texas for another car to hopefully be ready in time for school (which starts Thursday).
          In El Salvador we visited a couple beaches, visited ruins, got sick for a few days, endured a couple parties with extended relatives...so many relatives (tens of people) in El Salvador and I only caught a few names; I remember less. It was overwhelming, especially for an introvert like me. I was confronted yet again with the peculiarity of my nature, how people don't understand it and make wildly inaccurate assumptions about me. It's frustrating. A more comical example being the assumption that I eat one large serving of vegetables once or twice month when in truth I may have multiple servings a meal and start to go crazy if I don't consume any for more than 4-5 days (which happened). I don't think I'll be able to endure even the smell of pupusas and beans for a long time.
          When I get back home to Arkansas, I'll give a fuller account of the trip with pictures. It wasn't all bad. I actually loved it but getting sick soured my outlook and once I started to recover I was quite ready to go home. The profound unfamiliarity of it all was weighing heavily on me by that point. Such is life I suppose, it isn't always sunny beaches and laughing with family. I learned a lot about my heritage and subsequently about myself. Perhaps I will share some of that with you in my trip diaries. For now, I miss you all and look forward to seeing you again as well as a new semester.
          Love and blessings upon you,           
Mishal