Well, after a bit more than four months in the States, it is time to go.
Four incredibly awesome months filled with excitement and almost pure hapiness every single day.
This stay has not only been a very cool touristy trip, in which I saw gorgeous landscapes and discovered really cool cities, but it has allowed me to sort of reconnect with the other part of myself, the American one, I felt I had neglected but too long. I can say today I feel much more secure about my dualculture.
Of course this country is so overflowing with internal contradictions, malfunctions and political disgrace it often made me want hit my head against a wall, throw up or bury myself deep deep in the sand and just wait for all the insanity to pass. Or all three. In that order. But, this trip has helped me aknowledge, that the system, well, doesn't represent the US as a whole. It seems kind of obvious, sure, but when you're living abroad like I am, and only get insights on the US from the news, TV or movies, it's sometimes a bit tricky to grasp what's going on on a local level. There are just so many different mindsets and vibes from one State to the other, from one city to the other and from one person to the other. The diversity of people and mentalities here is truly mindblowing. I've met so many awesome, genuinely nice, generous, free-spirits and open-minded people of all ages and of all backgrounds at EVERY stop I made (and on some Greyhounds too!;). This led me to realize that if being American was being like them, well there definitely was nothing to be ashamed of and I could even be proud of my dual culture. Altough I might have to take that back on the 8th of November…
And yes, I know that my vision of the States is probably a bit biased by the fact that I am a white european/american middleclass young heterosexual woman. Had I been a poor, black, gay guy, I probably wouldn't have felt as welcomed and at ease in every State and every place I stayed in (I'm especially thinking of that redneck/biker crawfish broil in countryside Louisiana ). I'm also very well aware that most of the people I encountered were people that either had traveled abroad or in the States or were at least very close to the traveling community, therefore very open to meeting foreigners (or in my case, sort-of kind-of foreigner but not really). Nonetheless, that doesn't change my own personnal experience here which has been, as I said, absolutely awesome.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire