honeymoon period.

psychologists who have studied travellers and ex-pats concluded that there are certain phases all these people experienced while they were living far from the comforts of home. the first phase involves a sense of excitement, curiousity, and general tourist giddiness...

after six to eight weeks, however, the reality sets in. things which may have previously sparked curiousity or things which seemed kind of 'other world' or backwards originally had just been observations as an outsider looking in with little perspective on what daily reality is and how different viewpoints play out on an everyday basis. after a longer period of time, when you are living and working and making the transition from tourist to local...that's when the culture shock kind of hits the hardest. At least in my case, this seems to be the truth.

I have spent a lot of time informing people that life here isn't too different from Canada in SOME ways. As I sit here eating Pizza Hut delivery and drinking skim milk (a habit from my university days), it is easy to see that some things are constant - even if they are trivial.

The reality is, however, that I live in a Middle Eastern country and I teach locals, who are quite conservative. It can be difficult to accept certain views or to take things with a 'grain of salt'.

At the end of the day, I am still so happy to be here. I love my students, even though they make me feel crazy sometimes. I am learning so much and the environment is so supportive and conducive to making a first year teach comfortable. They care about what I think and feel and whether I am enjoying this experience.

Now to book a vacation destination for EID!

Still, despite all this, traveling is the great true love of my life. I have always felt, ever since I was sixteen years old and first went to Russia with my saved-up babysitting money, that to travel is worth any cost or sacrifice. I am loyal and constant in my love for travel, as I have not always been loyal and constant in my other loves. I feel about travel the way a happy new mother feels about her impossible, colicky, restless, newborn baby--I just don't care what it puts me through. Because I adore it. Because it's mine. Because it looks exactly like me. It can barf all over me if it wants to--I just don't care." — Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love)