Exhaustion

I´m starting to really miss home. Not necessarily people (which of course I do), but even more than that I miss the familiarity associated with home. Being able to go where I want to, when I want to. Knowing how to act and what´s acceptable in certain circumstances. Feeling like I have some sort of grasp on what´s happening around me. Please don´t get me wrong - I love it here and my understanding of the language and culture is constantly improving, but it doesn´t mean its comfortable.

Its very exhausting being alone in a new place and not really having a handle on the language. I feel like I´m a blender, and I´ve been processing things at high speed for the past three weeks - everything is new and exciting and its fun to take it all in and incorporate it with everything else I know and love. But now I feel like I´m ready to slow down a bit and let everything that´s happened so far settle.

I think it would be easier if I could pick up my (hypothetical*) cellphone and just call family and friends whenever I wanted, but its not that easy and I´m coping best I can. We have a new trainee coming tomorrow which should definitely bring in some new energy and excitement! If nothing else, it should decrease the amount of alone time I have in the lab to contemplate all the nitty gritty details of my life.

*hypothetical because I still haven´t replaced the one that was stolen at Carnaval...yes, Arthur has already made me aware of the fact that I may have set a new record for quickest phone theft on a traineeship. Sigh, If it wasn´t this, it would be something else.