It's definitely a real thing.
You have to adjust to not listening to reggaeton all the time, going to parties at 9 PM instead of 12 AM, not having arepas and a delicious breakfast waiting on you every morning, and not constantly having someone to ask you to ACTUALLY dance.
Nonetheless, I'm adjusting. It's not as easy as you would think it would be. I was even having to adjust to the food again--I was sick for the first week I was home. I guess that's the world telling me the last 8 months of traveling and living abroad are officially over.
I say that as I sit in the Dulles airport; it appears that despite all of my new experience traveling, my luck with flying has not gotten any better (thanks to American and United) and my patience has gotten even worse than it was before. I don't mean my patience for new things and new people, I mean my patience for ignorance and how people have no conscience for people around them. But that's okay.
I came back and had a week at home with my wonderful mama and grandma, as well as my niece and sister in visiting. They flew out on a Thursday, I moved to Norman the following morning, and then into the dorms the day after that for Panhellenic recruitment. Let me tell you, the exec side of recruitment for Panhellenic is much better than being on your chapter's side. It's not half as stressful, you get to root for all the girls going through rush instead of only about 80 of them, and you don't even have to sing or clap. And I loved every single person I got to meet and work with last week, so that was nice. Thankful for Bre Bober living with me for like 10 days straight.
I flew to Virginia afterwards, which ended up being a nightmare and I had to sleep in Chicago O'Hare for a night; I suppose I could have it worse, but that's the closest thing to frostbite I think I have ever felt. I'm not even kidding. I ended up flying into Reagan and then chasing my bag all the way into Dulles because that's where it landed. Definitely learned my lesson that if you can carry on your luggage, do it. I was lucky enough to get to spend a little bit of time at the beach with my dad for a good week of eating, even better weather, and some time to relax before classes start. I met some interesting people this week--between Frankie, the redneck from Richmond with a jar of moonshine, and the tea-partying Catholic lady from Massachusetts who believed in miracles and also, ghosts. Needless to say, it's been a hell of an interesting time.
Now, onto classes again. And all the extracurriculars that come with it, but most importantly, all my people back in Norman. I really am still adjusting to the States; I have friends who occasionally send me texts in Spanish and sometimes when I read them, I start saying something out loud in Spanish that doesn't make any sense to anyone but myself. It's boring not waking up to a new adventure every day, but let's hope that senior year does nothing but bring new adventures and opportunities to my lap. Meanwhile, enjoy these.
Say yes, and you'll figure it out afterwards.
-Tina Fey
