Privyet, America

“America makes prodigious mistakes, America has colossal faults, but one thing cannot be denied: America is always on the move. She may be going to Hell, of course, but at least she isn’t standing still.” –e.e. cummings

Two weeks after peering out over what I assumed to be Maryland (right before landing at Dulles International), I don’t think I had realized how different-same everything would seem after returning to the United States. I actually teared up once I saw the mainland, but now I’ve been tearing up when I think of last few months, their brevity, and how, the more I try to recall, the more it all becomes a joyously mangled cache of sorts. Barely identifiable.

Everything becomes a lot clearer once you’ve left home for a while but not simpler. This newfound clarity only further proves and admits to the overwhelming complexity of most things, the thin and finely stacked layers, the crumbs that are always left over from the experiences that allow you you grow in ways you had never thought of before. Thank you, Russia, for making everything a little bit more confusing and a lot richer for an unassuming Midwesterner. And thank you, America, for a sincere and unaffected homecoming.