Texas (A.K.A. Sweet Mother of Mercy it's Hot Here)

I haven't written in a while. I spent the last three weeks in a chaotic and highly experiential state. I have decided to stop writing about the summer...in a chronological fashion and instead reach into my very full memory bank and write about the experiences that most directly come to mind. This I plan to intersperce with personal current events and the things that I am learning and experiencing since I returned to the Austin/San Marcos area...the quantity of such experiences is great and my life has not stopped moving since I returned.

A quick synopsis:

I left L.A., with a very heavy heart. I didn't want to leave yet I was looking foward to my return to Central Texas and the experiences that were ahead. I made very good friendships on the project. I feel in love with the city of Los Angeles in spite of all of the obvious negitives about the place. You see, there are such awesome positives that lie beneath the crusty and angry surface of the city of 4 million (16 million metro) that you can only really discover by living there. I miss the noises, the masses of people, the freeways, the skyline towering above neighboring houses, the palm trees, and of course the much more plesant temperatures.

Nine days after my return, the end of a long drive that gave me many much needed hours to reflect on my experiences in solitude, I have pretty much adjusted to my surroundings. I drove by myself from Phoenix to San Marcos on Monday and spent the next couple of days taking care of the things necessary for living and attending another year (probably my last) at Texas State University. I was also a leader at Paws Preview, the massive freshman orientation at Texas State. I am greatful for this experience. It allowed me to quickly readjust to the campus surroudings...which are the antithesis of what you find in Inner City L.A. I also had the sense that I was doing something meaningful and impactful...the lack of this feeling is common to people coming off of experiences like the one I had this summer.

So I'm here and I'm about to start my fourth day of work since I returned. Class started today. I'm living in San Marcos within walking distance of campus...a pretty good turn of events because I learned this summer that I shouldn't undervalue community. I am in the midst of a really good community there and I'm looking foward to the coming year.