One Month

Hi Friends,

The original plan was to stay until the beginning of April. I was able to rearrange things in order to stay until the end of May....except my flight. So it seems I will be traveling back to America in one month, as was Plan A. One month left in Belgium? It's a pretty weird feeling.

I love things here, but I'm also ready to go back home. I love how free and liberating it is to be in another country and just have the space and lack of expectations to be myself, to explore. I have really wonderful friends, I love Gent, and my work makes me smile, even when I'm not there. However, I am very ready to be done with my current living situation and to go back home, see my family, my friends, my favorite restaurants, and speak English. I want to not always be on the go, to just relax and enjoy familiarity.

It is very weird to think I'm here for a few days, then in Italy for 9, then Belgium for two weeks, and Holland for nearly a week before I fly home. That is not a lot of time, and there is so much to do! I've only just started making progress with some of the people at work. "Steve" is a guy my age with autism just last week decided he was comfortable having a conversation with me. It used to be like pulling teeth to get him to talk to me, but after a small interaction he approached me and asked me a relevant question pertaining to our conversation. I was stunned! It's reasons like this I'm sad to leave so soon.

But in other news, it turns out I have a herniated disc in my lower back, which explains why I've been in so much pain just walking the past few months. Not having to walk everywhere and having the chance to fully recuperate will be wonderful. It stinks having a medical thing far from home, and the pressures of travel certainly do not help with a broken back.

So here I am...wishing the next month would hurry up and bring me home, and wishing that I had more time here to enjoy this wonderful life I've built. Especially considering how much I have planned for the next month I'm sure time will fly, but right now I'm just at the precipice of that final roller coaster hill, holding my breath and trying to remember to enjoy myself.

Much Love,
kw