no place like home

i'm home.

oh, the sweet goodness of the South. I feel like everything has shifted into slow motion. i'm breathing slower, walking slower, thinking slower. After living for nearly four months in a city that moves like it's got a fire underneath it, it's almost eerie how inert austin seems in comparison; quiet, too. no honking horns, no garbage trucks blocking the roads, and no pedestrians risking their lives to get to their destinations thirty seconds sooner. i remember the driver for the family i work for asking me not long ago what the subway system was like in Austin. he also thought that there was a 5 hour difference in time zones. I think he was under the impression that texas was practically a separate country. it might as well be, i guess.

it's good to be here, but i didn't get here without a price. when I arrived at JFK yesterday and they asked me for my ID, i couldn't find it! i searched frantically through my entire purse and wallet, but it was not to be found. i was sure they wouldn't let me a step further into that airport without a drivers license, especially with all the tightened security right now. but, to my great shock, they did! they thoroughly investigated my carry-ons, patted me down, traced me with a wand and sent me on my way. when i arrived 4 hours later in the austin airport, I was greeted my teary-eyed mom, brother, and best friend, but not my luggage. somehow, even if you are on a non-stop flight, it's still possible for your luggage to get lost in the shuffle and sent off to a completely different city. this all didn't really phase me, though. if I was forced to wear the same clothes for two weeks, I wouldn't care, I'd already reajusted to the torpid drug of the less-poluted texas air. And, I was home.

my luggage arrived this afternoon, so i only had to re-wear my clothes once.