My Summer Vacation

I am back. Yes, I took a vacation. A long, much needed vacation from work, from the UAE, from this blog, from email, from facebook, and all the pressures of adult life. Here are some things that I did on my vacation:

• Slept in...everyday.
• Saw almost every member of my family that I know of and some that I didn't know.
• Played hide-and-seek in my grandma's house with my nephews instead of hanging out with the grown-ups.
• Took a nap.
• Watched cartoons.
• Went to the zoo.
• Built towers out of blocks with my nephews.
• Tried to catch lizards (failed), fed ducks and ponies, and cuddled with a puppy.
• Spent an entire day getting dirty, four-wheeling through 'swamps' (yes, I'm from the South).
• Spent HOURS shopping with my sister.
• Kept my mobile phone turned off for more than a month.
• Rarely remembered what day it was and didn't plan my day according to a clock.

It was a good vacation. I think I mentioned in a previous post that I hadn't been back to the States in over a year, the longest I've ever been away. Before I left, I decided I was going to just chill, to not allow myself to be stressed about anything, to let myself remember what it was like to be a kid again. I think that descision, combined with my being gone for so long, helped me to see so many things differently. Instead of feeling awkward and out of place among other Americans, instead of judging American ignorance and materialism, I found myself enjoying its freedom. I saw that it actually is a fun and beautiful country, something I hadn't noticed in a very long time. As I let myself become a child again, a teenager again, I let myself become me again, and I realized that I'm fun and beautiful too.