Sleepy in Boonsboro

My parents live just outside the town of Boonsboro in western maryland. I arrived here from London a week ago tomorrow. Almost immediately, friends and family have been asking me if I'm experiencing "culture shock". On the face of it, the phrase seems much too strong for my feelings and thoughts of the last week. I've experienced change but not shock, and the change has felt more personal than cultural.

This weekend my sister will be coming up from Tennessee where she is a nursing student. I'll be quite interested to see how she's getting on. Surely re-entry into the affluence and excess of America after a year in the Amazonian jungle would require a larger degree of cultural adjustment: I wasn't falling asleep to the sound of rats running around my hut, I wasn't spending days at a time on river boats, nor was I walking over a mile to barter for groceries at the nearest market (I'm pretty sure Ansley experienced all of these things on a regular basis)!

I lived in West London, I fell asleep to the shriek of motor scooters careening through the roundabout, I found myself obliged to spend days at a time at the British Library, I frequently walked a quarter of a mile to a French cafe as closer ones had "inferior" croissants. So perhaps the idea of me experiencing culture shock- at least in comparison to my saint of a sister - is a bit of a farce.

With that said. I havn't sought out a great deal of America since I've returned. The past week has been almost exclusively spent within the restful confines of my parents' home. We've been sleeping (a lot), eating fresh apple pie and homemade ice cream, reading books on win dixie and shakespeare the thinker, and talking about the past and the future. Perhaps part of the reason I fail to feel shocked is the fact that I havn't turned on the television (including news) once since I've been back. Perhaps my blissful re-entry into a stupor of comfort and disengagement is the most shocking thing of all...

Despite all my thoughts and worries at the close of the 12 month stint, I'm Lonely for London, but its been good to be back.