Monday, December 10, 2007

Despite the Circumstances...

Last summer I went to visit some of my family in Pakistan.
If I were to describe it in one word I would have to decide
between: different and unique, I can't choose at the moment.
Pakistan is completely different from here in many, many ways.
Heavy smog, traffic jams, construction everywhere, flooding rain.
Noisy streets, thousands of people, crowded markets, mosquitoes.
Sweltering heat, constant power outages, sticky humidity, lots of fun. Wait a minute there, did I just write lots of fun? Despite everything? Cross that out, I meant to write I had tons and tons of overwhelming fun. To most people this must be a shock, but what can I say, I'm shocked too. I always thought I was going to be the picky girl who wouldn't adjust at all. But despite all the circumstances, I surprised myself in many different ways. First of all, I had more fun in that one trip than I've had in a very long time. Second of all, I realized it's not always the place you go that determines its fun. It's the people that are there that makes the place truly what it is. I overcame any doubts or uncertainties and let myself go, that's all I could do. I can't really explain why I had the experience I did, I think it's a mix of things. I know that I've never really had a family experience because I don't have much family here, but being in a place with cousins galore I realized family is just as, if not more fun than being with friends. Suddenly I didn't really have to care what people thought of me and just have fun and be myself, what was there to be afraid of? That one visit caused me to understand that sometimes that best things can happen in the most unexpected places.

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