does anyone really read this anymore?

eh, who knows.

so i was lofty in goals, thinking that i would keep up with writing in this thing during my month-long european sojourn. alas, much fun to be had, new and interesting people to be met, and many miles traveled, by foot, bus, train and air. lisbon and berlin are my new favorite cities (not that everything in between was pretty awesome, too), and i was only by myself (completely and totally -- not sharing rooms with hostel people/couchsurfing hosts, or out enjoying the nightlife) on the night of the u.s. election, opting to stay in, nurse my hankering cold and dream about barack obama making history.

that man does not disappoint.

now, 3 months after i left my sleepy, sunny sultanate, i am home in virginia (now a blue state - woot!), wanderlust-ing, damning this horrid economy, job-hunting and grad school applying, so that by this time next year, i will still be writing in this blog, but from london.

home life is still taking some getting used to, as is reverse culture shock. my 3 packages i shipped from oman have not yet arrived, and i am thoroughly convinced that they were hijacked by somali pirates. i'm hoping that the cargo ship saw the imminent danger and took the long route around the cape of good hope instead of up through the red sea. if that's not the case, at least i helped out the livelihood of poor somali fisherman and provided them with the little luxuries of life like olive oil soap and my swimsuit.

the weather is awfully cold for virginia and every day, i am at least a wee bit homesick for the sultanate and the idyllic life we fulbrighters lived there. perhaps the resurrection of this blog will include 'stories that were never told' or memories and quips that never made it into the original. hope you all who have stayed in tune will continue to do so.