I was thinking recently that it's been about a year since I left Mexico. I remember I cried as my plane left the ground at Mexico City. My friend Dylan and I went as far as DFW airport together and we both teared up when we parted on the SkyTrain, because it meant that it was all over.
We were warned about reverse culture shock, and some of the frustrations we'd encounter. Our friends and family lived so many months without us, and they certainly weren't sitting twiddling their thumbs waiting for news. Most people would ask "how was Mexico" and you'd think how in the world can I sum up four months of my life in a foreign country in a few words? And there were things about American culture that we'd temporarily forgotten about. Like the neighbors' Turf Wars and the existence of an entire wall of breakfast cereal when you've been used to three.
I've realized that 2010 was extraordinarily good to me. I spent three months abroad experiencing a new culture, came home and went almost directly to Pymatuning to (finally) do my own experiment for the first time, acquired a new niece, and moved in with some great roommates.
Apparently I've changed some over the past year. Studying abroad made me more outgoing and confident. For some reason studying abroad had been something I'd thought would be nice but would never actually happen. It came as a bit of a shock when I realized I was two days away from leaving the country for three months.
I did a lot of things that I would have been terrified of- I'm thinking specifically of a hike across a mountainous island on loose rock with steep hills. I managed to get directions from a security guard in the Guadalajara airport with my rusty Spanish.
Over the summer, I learned to really push myself and expect more out of myself. Big kudos here to my mentor Dr Rickey Cothran, who leads by example and is never worried.
Around New Years I was worried that there was no way 2011 could live up to 2010. Five months in, I think it might. I pushed through my last semester of college (and sometimes I really had to push!) to finish my thesis and graduate. Breaking my back was less than enjoyable, but it followed news that I would be spending the next year in Costa Rica.
