July 26th--I am not sure the last time I saw the sun for longer than an hour, but I am guessing, judging by the size of my muffin top, it has been a considerable amount of time. I am fairly certain for the past two weeks it has done nothing but rain in this country. Wait, I take that back. Yesterday, there was sun. And I went on my first run in almost two weeks. I jumped back on the bandwagon, and then got knocked off again today by the weather gods. My body thinks that it is November, and has started packing on weight for the coming winter cold. Problem being, it is not November. I should be in a bikini. I doubt I could pull that off right now.
Note to anyone thinking about visiting Germany (sorry Morgan and Kristin): do not come during the "summer." You see, summer apparently does not exist in Germany. Summer is like a Portland spring. The weather may creep towards the 70s, but it never really gets there. Not to mention the hot water in my room went out, and I had to race over to Carrie's to use their shower, because it was too damn cold for me to even consider showering in the blisteringly cold waters.
I could not figure out why I had become such an emo asshole lately, and now I realize it: it is SAD (Seasonal Affect Disorder). See, I am from Boise, aka the high desert. We have four distinct seasons: winters are real winters, summers are real, honest-to-God summers. I keep reading people's status updates on facebook about how miserable the heat is at home. People who keep bitching: I would gladly trade places with you right now. I want my 100+ degree weather! I want dryness! I want that feeling you get when you have been walking outside for 10 minutes, sweating out every last bit of liquid in your body, and then you walk into a store and the wind is knocked out of you because the AC is cranked to arctic temperatures. I WANT THAT NOW! This is my first summer, since I was 7, that I have not been in Boise. I did not realize how much I loved it until I did not have it.
I am beginning to think this is divine intervention: I do not want to leave Germany, I am dreading the thought of leaving all my friends and the wreck I will inevitably be, but truth be told, this weather is seriously making me reconsider my pull to live here. I am not cut out for this. I do not like mold growing on everything. I do not like habitual rain, nasty slugs that I keep stepping on, my clothes never being dry, wearing a fucking hooded sweatshirt in July. As soon as I get home, I am hiking up to the cross at 5 in the evening: the hottest part of the day, without sunscreen (maybe a hat) and laying out on top of a rock, overlooking the dry, hot desert that is Boise.
Despite how much I may dislike certain things about Idaho, there really is no other place like it. I have lived all over, but always seem to get sucked back to the Gem State. And I am pretty sure I want to stay there, at least until I get that itch to leave again. But I am fairly certain the U.S. is the place for me (maybe Canada, but Canada is practically the U.S., it just has legalized gay marriage and weed...wait, why am I not living in Canada??)
But I have to remember to keep an open mind. While it is a good idea to hold fast to your convictions, I think it is also important to be open to whatever life may throw at you. So Boise, you are mine, unless another amazing opportunity presents itself (another year-long Urlaub in Deutschland...maybe. No, I am going to say nine months so I am home in time for a real summer).
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