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Tuesday 18 January 2011

It takes two.

My suitcase is on the floor. The clothes are still inside, unpacked, except for a few things. Maybe I should unpack, I feel like I've been recycling clothes. My bookcase is still empty, save for the books and magazines I actually unpacked. But things are still up in the air, which is why I've kept everything as is. Toronto makes me unproductive, or maybe it's the fact that my desk is covered with papers and doesn't feel like my space. May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December, January - that's how long I've been living out of suitcases and never have I unpacked them. Boarding passes from Beirut, Bilbao, Barcelona, Amman, Orlando, Chicago, Frankfurt, Toronto, Winnipeg and Ottawa peek out of the pages of my journal. My body has forgotten the concept of time, and my phone is tired of changing time zones and sim cards. I even stopped asking if the tap water was safe and just took my chances.

It's hard to believe that it's already 2011. The length of my hair is a sign of how much time has passed since the last time I was in my own house, sitting and relaxing on my couch. 2010, in comparison to 2009, was a much better year for me, I've accomplished a lot throughout the year, although sometimes I feel like I haven't. Despite the cloud of uncertainty that continues to hover over my head, the entire journey was necessary for my mental and physical health, it was an experience I may never have again. I had the opportunity to teach for the first time, to visit more cities in a day than I could ever imagine, to interact and meet some of the most fantastic people, explore and document societies and cultures and eat copious amounts of good food. What was the biggest lesson learned? That I need to pack lighter.
I have so much I want to write, but I can't seem to piece the sentences together.

Two years of maintaining this blog today, and although I haven't posted as much as I should have (I've even forgotten to post about my adventures with the bedouins in Wadi Rum and at the Red Sea) here's to another year of yuppie activism. I hope you'll still be reading.

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