I am back in the U.S. enjoying life. There definitely are some conveniences and luxuries here that are nice to have again: my bike, pork, all of my stuff, a car. This is all stuff that is, shall we say, flammable. Don't get me wrong, it is great to be closer to a lot of important people in my life and that is meaningful and a huge blessing. But, some of the things that I would just really want sometimes really aren't that important. Now that I have the things I wanted, I want the things that I had (I long to spice up my diet with a adana durum or to mop up some lentil soup with ekmek). It is a pretty cool illustration in my own life of how the material is immaterial. It ultimately doesn't matter. This is a good thing to remember during my forays into bastions of American commercialism when it is so easy to think that stuff will make me happy.
I am living in a very different place, surrounded by very different things. My time looks different. But, interestingly, things inside of me aren't really that different. Maybe that seems obvious, but I think it is interesting. I have pretty much the same issues and struggles as I did living overseas.
Recently, I was telling someone that the transition has made me think more about the core of who I am. This would be the things about you that never change with circumstances. When so much changes around you, it seems that your immutable core should become more and more defined.
