Monday, February 4, 2008

Booked in, reverse culture shock


I pledged to myself at the end of last year that I would finally make time to go see my first niece, Adilynn, who turned 1 this past Christmas Eve and whom I, sadly, have never met. This month I will have been in Turkey for two years, and in that time I've never traveled back to the States. I booked my ticket recently (and was rather pissed that the ticket went up 100 bucks in a week and kicking myself for not booking the previous week) for March.

When I think about visiting, I feel rather apprehensive. I remember how it was returning after more than two years living in The Gambia. I felt like a complete stranger in California. I'd lived without electricity, running water and pretty much all the other trappings of the Western world for that period and I found out that I was okay without those things. Of course, this is not quite the same. I have all the modern amenities here in Turkey; yet, I've also become quite accustomed to the way of life here. I feel very much anchored here and I know more about the PKK and Ergenekon than how the US presidential primaries are going.

It seems likely that by the time I start to get my bearings over there, I'll be heading for the headache that is LAX and on my way back here.

1 comment:

Bev said...

I know what you mean when you go back to the states after being out of the country for a long time! It doesn't feel like home anymore in Cali though my friends and family are there. Happy that you get to see your niece!=)