The reason tourists don't get homesick is because they're not trying to act as if this new place is their home. Homesickness happens when we're trying to live our "normal" life and we're reminded about how different it is here from there.
I've always felt at home in libraries, as if I could spend all day there. So I was thrilled today when I found a local library in the center of a beautiful park. It seemed familiar - the kid's corner, the "silencio" signs, the dewey decimal system, the clean bathrooms, etc. But for some reason I couldn't warm up to the place. And I think it wasn't just the lack of comfortable chairs. Despite the rows and rows of books, I couldn't read a single one. Not even the kids' books. And I didn't understand what the librarians told me.
Homesickness is when you're trying to feel at home and it just doesn't work.
And then, when we least expect it, something familiar makes it all ok. After a few minutes of wandering confused through the library, I had a long spanish class, where i got to start reading a book of short stories - in Spanish! Maybe in a few months, the kids' corner of the library will be less frightening.
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3 comments:
Sounds like you're off to a good start! do you have internet at home yet?
It's ok to live as a tourist too... we still are excited to go see the beach when our friends here take it for granted. We go to the museums and parks and when we talk to people they say, "We haven't been there in years." I think it's been a good thing for us to try to feel like we are tourist and want to take it all in.
We do have internet at home. And Satelite. Sometimes that makes it too easy to hide at home. :)
I hadn't thought about all the pluses of being constant tourists. Like how we have so many places to visit every weekend and how even grocery shopping is more interesting!
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