Nanny Cam: It's been 3 months...

So.

It's been three months...And?

I wish I could sum up these three months, wrap them up neatly and tie them with a ribbon, but I do not know what to say. So here are some not-quite-neatly-tied-in-a-bow thoughts.

I have stepped far from my comfort zone, which I suppose is good. It has been interesting to notice what remains when I shed all the identities and roles I am used to inhabiting. Suddenly I am here, where no one knows my family or my friends, or even my dogs! (I have a weird moment of bewildered surprise when people ask if I have brothers or sisters...I catch myself thinking, “Don’t they know? Can’t they tell?” and then remember that, no, they don’t know and they can’t tell. How would they? (Not that I am famous or anything, but being the middle of three girls has been so important that it is weird to be asked that question. I feel like that fact is tattooed on my forehead or something.) Most people don’t recognize North Carolina, and barely understand the “East Coast” or “south of New York” which is how I usually end up describing where I live. They don’t know Duke, so the last four years mean nothing to them.Most people have not read the books I have read or seen the movies I have seen just because they have their own literature and films. Never mind the language barrier. So it is difficult to tell anyone anything, and I don’t even attempt something complicated. So what am I left with?Eckhart Tolle (I've been listening to A New Earth when I ride the bus into Prague) would chide me and say “All of that is content, not essence.” Okay. So what is this essence and how do I bring it to the Czech Republic?

Every thing is an adventure, and that is terrifying and exciting. (Though currently I am rather tired of adventures.) Just catching the right bus or purchasing bread at a grocery store turn into major events. A lot of that, though, is due to my tragic (non)sense of direction. It can be exhilarating, yes, but sometimes I wish that a bus trip was just a bus trip, and buying bread was just a simple errand.

I realized recently that I take my camera with me almost everywhere, which is quite different from my attitude at home. I never know when something weird or beautiful or interesting will pop up and I don’t want to miss it. When was the last time you took a camera with you on the way to the grocery store? I didn’t have it with me one day this week when Eva and the baby and I went to get school supplies for the boys in the village. (At a store that sells school supplies, lunch boxes, wrapping paper, and toilet paper. Okay.) And boy did I see something weird. Above the Disney Princess notebooks, literally six inches away, was a nude calendar for sale featuring a topless and bottomless (unless you count sheer knee-highs) woman. Across the store was another risqué calendar sitting next to a stack of folders with ponies on them. What?

Cool moment: A few weeks ago I watched my mom and the baby play peekaboo over Skype video. She hid behind a napkin and he giggled and giggled in my lap. Peekaboo across the ocean...cool.

Hurray hurray! I am coming home! Just for a week to attend my cousin’s wedding. I have been counting down the days for about, oh, three months so I can hardly believe it is time! And these last few days have been the slowest ones yet. Funny how that works.*

*This was a post in progress, so although I began it before leaving the Czech Republic, I "published" it on my first full day back. It was marvelous to see my family (immediate and extended) and friends. The wedding was so much fun! Highlights include a breezy and delightful rehearsal dinner on a Minnesota lake, a wonderful ceremony, a trip to Starbucks in all our wedding finery before the reception, and a very celebratory evening at a beautiful location with lots of dancing! Congratulations to Dan and Allison!

Yay for cousins!