2011… Wow.
Let me just say that nothing can prepare you for the first year outside of college. THAT should be coined as the first time one can “leave the nest.”
No one tells you how difficult it is to adjust after the “best years of your life” — and if you went to JMU, they undoubtedly were. How can you possibly face life after JMU?!
Regardless, I moved back home and started my new life without Mike and my best friends being down the hall.
Not only was Mike around the globe, I can safely say he was in another dimension. Life in Ethiopia is not on the same plane as back home, in any way whatsoever. Their culture is completely untouched by the Western world: no one understands our humor, the way we dress, act, live, breathe. They eat with their hands, walk around barefoot, and gasp when they agree with you (it still throws me off). Their sense of time and how they use is quite the opposite of ours. Ethiopia was, in fact, America turned upside down.
It’s also where it helped me unveil a whole new part of myself.
When I first arrived here in May, it was unlike anywhere I’d been, yet it strangely felt like coming home. Somewhere in my unconscious mind is a forgotten memory of how life was once lived… and is meant to be lived.
Ethiopians have nothing, yet have everything. Their lives are built around a sense of community and family. They address you as ‘windeme’ or ‘ahete’ (brother or sister). If you don’t have something and they do, it is yours…everything is shared. Joy and pain, up and down. Their view on life makes you appreciate everything you have.
I came across a quote that I now try to live my life by: “To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.”
Life is too short to not try and soak up every little bit that you can while you’re here. Traveling is my way of gaining experiences that I can use to help me make sense of life around me.
Seeing life through Ethiopia’s lens was one of the best things that has yet to happen to me and coming back from the first trip made me get a jump start on my new life as a photographer. I had this wonderful realization that this is exactly where I’m supposed to be and what I’m meant to be doing, and it’s the best feeling in the world. I’ve since been blessed with great opportunities and clients, and a new energy in my work.
Coming here made me realize that can be just as sweet as those college years, if not sweeter. With a few new experiences in your back pocket, anything is possible.
Lovely post, Carly. You are a true romantic! Can't wait to see you when you get back, and to hear all about your time with Michael. Love to you both.
Anne