LeliaThomas.Com

Toward the End of the Road

Posts have maybe seemed slim to none lately, but that’s because I’m carrying out the finishing touches of moving to Melbourne. As I type, I’m in Alabama on a hi-speed wireless connection in the hotel where I’m staying (can we say “hell yes?”). The last two weeks have been busy for me, and I’m learning a lot about myself and life in the process.

On the path to see this through, the gravel road’s been one of many twists and turns, so as to easily mess up my wheels and get me off course. Personally, a lot has happened to and around me, but I’ve also run into the bureacracy of the immigration process and life’s usual setbacks. (Note: The whole process has reinforced my belief that there are few excuses for illegal immigration, however.)

The filing of my student visa is what led me to hot and muggy Alabama, where it’s been a sweltering 95F (35C) almost every day I’ve been here. That natural glow about me? Sweat. Like a pig, except in my skinny body.

One of my requriements was a medical examination and chest x-ray, but this had to be carried out by a certified panel doctor. The nearest one to me was in Montgomery, Alabama, a good four or more hours drive during good traffic conditions. I am inclined to believe that the land of Oz does not realize how far we Americans have to drive to get from one city to another! We don’t have that huge, central chunk of desert that limits our driving to a select few cities. The next nearest panel doctor to me? Missouri!

After having been set back a week thanks to a cold I caught from my mother (what’s family for, right?), I was finally able to make it down here. Icky, SuperPhlegm^TM coughs and all. It’s amazingly sexy, yes.

Visiting Alabama is always nice in my mind. You rarely meet a stranger here; most people are down to earth and friendly. And yes, God forbid, southern. If not for the large amounts of rain, I might consider it a place to call home at some point in my life–but that rain is a deal breaker. The humidity can leave you feeling like you live in the armpit of a 500-pound man.

Tomorrow I head back to Tennessee for a day, but I’ll be back on the road with my mother on Thursday, and off to Mississippi we’ll go. That trip will be the last time I’ll see my grandparents until January of next year, not that I see them often even now that I’m in the States. I hope I’ll get some photos of our land and of various other places while I’m there.

It’s been weird to do all of these things in a week, and it’s been years since I’ve been through Alabama and Mississippi in the same amount of time. Part of it feels like home–the people, the southern drawl, the humid air and heat. The men who open doors for me just because I’m a woman. The children who don’t run as wildly because they’ve actually been disciplined.

Even after all these years, it feels like a world onto itself, but I sense it’s slowly passing. New people come in with new ways, ways they deem “better.” House costs rise as some people from California, New York and Florida pop in with their ideas of money and society. Taxes go up. Political correctness increases. “Southern hospitality” is dying, even if slowly.

When I return home from Mississippi, I will barely have three weeks left in the States. Then everything will change, and while that’s fine…it leaves me caught between many worlds.

Comments ordered from oldest to newest.

Jon

Ah well, you’ll have left by now. But here is an interesting link:

http://bgalrstate.blogspot.com/

beautiful link to Swiss Art galleryon her May 31 post. Go check it out. I just know you’ll love it. Laters … Q

Ren

Ah well, at least things are getting sorted. Drop me a line if you need a hand with anything. :)

Shawn Anthony

I hope you find your way to your destination safely.

Lelia

Ren, thank you! I really appreciate that support. :)

Lorri M.

Take care and safe trip, Lelia. *hug*