"transitioning" back to life in the US

When Im done, Ill have put up just about all the photos I took in Senegal: http://picasaweb.google.com/dsheuu/Senegal#

Thanks to Senegalese culture, I'm now used to be around tons of people all the time. Before leaving for Senegal, I liked my solitude, independence, personal space, and time for reflection. Every time my family (as in DC one) had guests over (which was honestly every single week, if not twice or more) , I would just hang out in my room or go out. Post-Senegal, Ive moved my laptop onto the kitchen counter so that I can be in the room where my relatives like hanging out. My dad asked me today what I was doing here-- here, actually in the presence of others. Man, pre-Senegal Dorothy was so anti-social in comparison to post-Senegal Dorothy.

Oh, btw, though I'd just throw it out there that while sifting through the documents my mother left behind for me, I noticed that she scheduled to get my wisdom teeth removed 2 days before my 21st birthday. This is not a laughing matter.

House guests, are... house guests. A fun distraction, a bit high maintenance, lively, and time consuming. Ive done nothing so far other than shuttle them from place to place, helping them locate whatever thing they need around the house, and basically trying to balance putting my life back together while serving their needs. The experience would be less taxing if my aunt wasn't so freaking racist. All she does is refer to people by their skin color, worship l'Occidental, and talk about God. Some of the things that comes out of her mouth (like, for instance, the fact that apparently chinese women should be wary of white men because once married, the white man- due to his superiority- will treat the chinese woman as a slave, or, better yet, that America's economy is plummeting because the people of the US have turned their back to God) really gets underneath my skin. She's one of those types of ladies who, no matter how much you try knocking sense into her, she just can't be won over-- she'll throw even more nonsensical arguments back at you to justify her position. Then, after you argue with her, she will turn around and call up every fucking person she knows and tell them that you were not raised properly and don't fear God. If my disagreement with her perspective is a manifestation of audacity in place of fear, then I believe the woman just committed blasphemy. To get me through the day, I just turn up the volume and let Pandora blasting through my headphones drown out her banter.

Oh my goodness I missed Pandora SOOO badly in Senegal.

On the bright side, sort of, the last remaining cousin flew in today and with her she brought a dvd of the funeral. With all the other members of the family who also could not back it to Australia in time, we watched it together.

On a completely different note and subject, I fbook chatted Rand yesterday and she was telling me about her life in Iraq. She mentioned someone threw a shoe at Bush while he was visiting Baghdad yesterday. Hearing it from Rand already put a smile on my face, but it took seeing the actual video clip on CNN today of Bush dodging two flying shoes to make me laugh out loud.