back to reality

                Waking up from dreams is the hardest.

                I usually dream about people.  Sometimes about places, but mostly people.  After I wake up, I feel as if the person was just here, as if I were just talking to them.  As if it were all real. 

You know how certain people have things that you especially notice?  Like a particular freckle on their face, or an old pair of shoes that they always wear, or that way that they fidget around idly when no one’s watching?  I notice those things in my dreams, too.  It makes the people in my dreams all the more real.  It makes waking up nearly impossible. 

I remember when I first arrived in Lesotho.  I had these dreams all of the time.  It was awful.  I’d wake up and open my eyes and for a few frightening seconds I’d forget where I was.  In my dreams, I was just talking to an old friend in the bar down Elizabeth, having a Sunshine Wheat after school on the patio.  Suddenly, I was awake and cold and staring at a tin roof with a rooster howling outside.  It’s an awful feeling, in case you’ve never had it.  It’s confusing and scary until reality shatters your dreams and you’re back to where you’re supposed to be.

I’m having these dreams again. 

I’m still waiting for the day that I start to actually have dreams about Lesotho.  It hasn’t happened yet.  It would sure make it a lot easier to wake up in the mornings.  Of course, it will happen right as I get home, and I’ll be confused all over again.

I might be in a melancholic mood tonight because I just arrived home this afternoon from a week-long safari vacation with Heather (more on that to come later).  It’s really hard coming back to village from vacations.  For a while, I felt like I was in America again.  I drove a car!  I ate McDonald’s (in the drive thru!!!)!  I took a shower every day!  I slept in a normal bed!  I spoke English for five days straight!  I cooked food on an electric stove!  I saw so many white people that I lost count! 

I also saw lots of animals, like this one.

Pretty cool, right?

Then, I came back.  Upon crossing the border gate (literally), I was hassled for money and candy.  I was overcharged for a taxi.  I was touched by strangers.  I didn’t understand anyone around me.

Welcome home!

Needless to say, I’m ready for school to start again in a week.  I’m ready for the monotony of waking up every day at 6am and getting home every day at 4pm.  I’m ready for monotony.  I need monotony in my life.  When you’re without it for a while, monotony can be nice.