Normal

Life is beginning to feel "normal" in Illinois again. I'm finding my routine and having to look at my class schedule less often (though I do keep adding and dropping a few classes!). I'm beginning to figure out when I can go grocery shopping and when I do my schoolwork. Life feels so "familiar" here in Illinois, and I even get caught off guard by its familiarity.

Am I really starting my third year here? Have I really lived here, in Champaign-Urbana, for two years? And will I really be leaving in three months?

Its a bizarre feeling, really. I'll be leaving Illinois again in just three short months. However, this time, it'll be for good. "For good" in the sense that, I'll never live here again. Sure, I'll visit-- but just like I visit Colombia. But I won't have a house key and I won't have a room here anymore.

I haven't felt terribly attached to Champaign-Urbana these last two years, but I'm becoming increasingly aware of how much I'll miss people that I've come to love deeply. Realizing that I only have three months left with them, before they too, become part of my ever-growing list of long-distance friendships is unnerving.

I want to soak up every last moment and squeeze every last memory out of these places and these faces. I want the goodbyes to hurt-- excruciatingly so-- knowing that my time here has been full.

It has been abundant.