This Saturday night, I am hitting the road headed for Chicago, where I will be stationed semi-permanently for the next few years studying and working.
I've been living this way for some time now: venturing from city to city, staying long enough to learn and grow and hurt and love, and then I try (though never quite succeed) to box it all up, leaving much behind but always bringing away a suitcase and a heart too full of things I can't let go.
I wanted this lifestyle for myself. It is romantic and there is so much to be learned and it can really push you as a human being. But it is also lonely sometimes, knowing that the only constant thing (person, relationship) in my adult life has been me, myself. I have met and shared great relationships with people of the highest caliber, but in the end I always have to go. And the end: If starting a new life is one of the most thrilling sensations there is, having to leave it behind is, in itself, a tiny death.
I wonder how things will be in Chicago? I'll be living with my Grandma for these first three months, and I literally cannot imagine what it will be like. I will tell you about her later.
All that's for sure is that I will be very busy, because I am compulsively intent on perfecting my art of living (it is quite time consuming!).
I hope to be writing more and sharing with you the more quiet and exciting nuggets of wisdom I find on my journey.

from my first week living in seoul, july 2007. this little girl had no idea what she was in for

walked out the door this morning and finally felt the warm embrace of spring! it will take some days to defrost from this very harsh winter but this music should be just right for the wait.

p.d. yes i know my taste in music is neither new nor cool but i think if you give the songs a chance you'll find they are quite fitting for the occasion
p.p.d. i did not mean to include THAT paul simon song. it's not right at all. do replace with "under african skies" instead.
p.p.p.d. here is a photo from exactly one year ago today! taken at the feria de la calle defensa, these were my first steps ever in san telmo. crazy to think about how those streets meant nothing to me then, but now...

called lany at 8:00 am on friday, blizzard approaching, heading out the door, and invited her to come along to boston with me... and she said yes!!! this is one of my favorite things about lany.
for the record, we made it up to boston without a hitch, and serendipity even led us to this photo booth at the rest stop where we waited out the storm for a while.