You Never Forget your First!

Hello, and welcome to the blog, Live from Suburbia. There has been a lot going on in the past year that has not been on the blog. I have returned from an amazing trip to Egypt, where I studied at the American University in Cairo for a year. The rundown is as follows:

- arrived in Egypt with high hopes of learning a lot about how other people live, and how that affects the world that I live in

- made friends first semester

- traveled around (Greece, Turkey, and other places in Egypt)

- friends left at the end of their semester away

- got homesick

- became very depressed

- got kicked out of an apartment because of my risky behaviour (actions taken while depressed)

- made some amazing friends, but had to leave because I had to go to back to America

My god! Looking back, since I am back in the States, this experience was even more amazing than I thought. Being surrounded by a different culture, and having to interact with so many people from so many different backgrounds was something that many people may not be able to ever have. For anyone who is thinking about traveling around for academic or other reasons, I say "go for it!" No matter how long or short the time that you have, you will change your outlook on the world that we live in and share. The sad part is that I realise that I will never have an experience like that again, but I am so glad that I took this chance. Don't come in with any expectations of how things will be, who you will encounter, and what will happen to you while in the country of destination, and how you will react to returning to your home country. For me, I thought that I would be completely ecstatic to come back to America, but I am attempting to save money for a trip to visit my friends in Egypt for my winter vacation.

 My life in America is at a crossroads because of my age (21), my sexual orientation, my choice to vacation destinations (Middle East, southern and eastern Europe), my experience, my ambitions (graduating college, working overseas, being happy wherever I may be), my family (caring parents who don't realise my desire to be more independent), and finally, my desire ( to continue a relationship cut short because of my return to the States with someone in Egypt) To fulfill all of these goals, I have to become more assertive and demanding of myself and the people that I choose to surround myself with. It's a long and slow process, but I will have to do it for my own well being, if I am to be taken seriously and not taken advantage of. Thanks for listening to the rants of a confused, young, ambitious 20-something.