Back Home...

It's a Saturday morning, and I'm sitting in my parents' living room watching a movie with them. We've been watching the Today show and playing with our seven month old puppy Mo all morning, and now we're just hanging out drinking coffee. Life here is slower than I remember it. Well that's not entirely true, I guess. Salem has always been kinda dull. :-)

This week I stayed in Columbia with my brother, sister, and brother-in-law (who for all intents and purposes is my brother too) to get away from the Salem hum-drum. It was pretty nice! We played video games, made meals together, went on walks, played with their dogs, worked out, and just enjoyed each others' company. It was lovely.

Now I'm back in Salem for a few days before I leave for Springfield to start dancing ballet and working again. I consider Springfield my home now, so I'm pretty excited to get back for the first time.

Life in the States hasn't been too bad, though there have really been some differences. What I think is really interesting is the way we interact when we're together. In Greece, people spend time together and they really do spend time together. We'd go to cafes and just chat about things together. Here in Missouri, I've noticed that yes, we're together, but there are always distractions. Right now, we're watching a movie and I'm on the computer. One of us always seems to be on a cell phone. There's just always something different going on. It's strange.

So things are going well lately. I'm recharged, I'm back on a normal human schedule, I'm getting back in typical Mark Walter shape, and spending time with people I love again. I love it.

Also, there were huge storms that went through Salem the day before I got here! When I rolled into town, there was no power at all, and there were hundreds of downed trees all over the place. There's been tons of damage, but people get by pretty well in small towns. They tend to take care of each other. Anyway, there are some felled trees in our backyard too. Check it out!