"Sitting in the aisle is like being in an entirely different world!"

After four days on my beloved East Coast, I'm back in San Francisco. Though I spent the majority of those four days on the worst sleep schedule ever/more sleep deprived than I can begin to tell you, I think I really needed Charleston. Although it's not a huge city with a huge name, Charleston holds so much for me. Seeing the city on this trip was interesting. Just like in D.C., they've gentrified the hell out of Charleston. Ms. Hayes (TRBJ's dear mother) always talks about how much D.C. has changed since she was a little girl, but it's hard to feel the oddity of seeing corporations and money take over until you see the changes yourself, in a place that you're emotionally tied to. Every time I've visited Charleston, it has been to see family (my mother's side). Despite the losses, I was surprised (but so relieved) to find that feeling of being surrounded by loved ones that the city has imprinted on me has remained just as strong. For that, I have a good few people to thank.

In four short days, I attended a funeral and a wedding and realized some things. My concerns about not being affected by death were completely ridiculous because the minute I set foot in that church Wednesday morning, the tears were just flowing. What made me cry harder was my uncles. My mom has three younger brothers and I know every single one of them loved their mother more than anything in the world. I sat behind the three of them during the funeral and seeing them shed tears was so difficult. For once in my life, I did not want to be crying but it was impossible to stop. It's an interesting feeling.

Even though I was severely leaking from the eyes, I kept a close eye on my mother (she sat all the way at the other end of the pew from my family because she had to get up and speak). Even though we get into it every once in awhile, I can't stand to see her cry (In case you haven't realized, seeing other people cry is a bit difficult for me). Let me tell you, that woman is strong. So, so strong. Not a tear on her face. Not before speaking, not during speaking, not after speaking. Just an expression that displayed a true appreciation for the life of a loved one. I've never been so proud to have that woman for my mother.

Then the mayhem began. My mom's best friend from eighth grade, my Aunt Clae had her wedding on Saturday morning. Although it was a small (but sooo beautiful) wedding, Aunt Clae had my mother and their other best friend (my Aunt Betty; also their friend from eighth grade) as bride's maids. Since I love matrimony, I decided to tag along on Friday to run last minute errands. One of the errands happened to be my mother getting her eyebrows threaded for the first time. Let me tell you, it was a fiasco. The three of them were hilarious; my mom was being a diva, my Aunts were hovering, and all three of them were loud. Really loud. I wouldn't say I was mortified, but I was more than happy to run over to Wal-Mart to pick up some stuff while they wilded out. What I loved, was seeing my mom, with friends she's had for most of her life; just so happy to be alive and be loved by these women. Sometime during wedding mania, my Aunt Betty called my mom, thirty seconds after they parted ways for a few hours, just to let her know they had been friends for over thirty years. That made me so happy. I don't know if I'll still be friends with people I'm friends with from eighth grade, and it's really unlikely we'll be that close; however, the three of them make me think about the friendships I have. In thirty years, we'll have some really great stories...I can't wait.

If you know me at all, you know I hate goodbyes but I've always loved getting away from homey. When my dad took me to the airport Sunday morning, the tears returned and shocked the hell out of me. I really didn't want to say goodbye to him, not one bit. When he saw my face, being his stoic self, my dad said, "It's all apart of the experience." The experience. I noticed that almost as soon as I got to Oberlin, I was very proud to say I was from SoFla (something I've never laid claim to before). Come Winter Term, I was even excited to return home (Big shocker Gabe, I know. Oh, the love seat) to visit. At the end of second semester, I would have given my right arm to spend one night in my bed; and, my first week in San Francisco, I legitimately missed my family. Despite the circumstances, I was excited to be in Charleston just to see them. I wonder if I would have felt this way if I stayed in-state for school. I'm thinking, probably not. I love that I'm seeing the country, meeting people from different places, and developing a real appreciation for where and what family I'm from. If this is the result of distance, I'll take it and welcome it with open arms.

On one of my flights back to San Francisco, I decided to not be a neurotic creature of habit and chose to sit in an aisle seat instead of next to the window. I always choose the window. I ended up watching the lady across the aisle from me drink half a case of Beck's (which she had stocked up in her purse) and having a really great conversation with the woman sitting next to me (Beautiful, in the Air Force, lives in Honolulu, Louisiana accent, beautiful coffee drinking baby boy named Lake, BUT married. Just my luck.). I even used the bathroom on a plane for the first time in my entire life.

After being out of the lab for three days, it felt good to get back today. I did some immunofluorescence with James, which is pretty much taking pictures of the brain sections once they've been stained with cool colors. Once I start taking my own pictures, I'll post a few and explain a little more.

GO SEE THE A-TEAM. The trailer looked pretty stupid to me, but it was SO GOOD. Not only was it hella good, but the combination of the previews and movie officially has me in love with good-looking Hollywood men. Bradley Cooper, Tom Cruise, Hayden Christen, Matt Dillon, Jay Hernandez, Chris Brown, Michael Ealy (Look up the trailer for Takers, and you'll die. Team, we're seeing this during pre-seaon, just so you know). I love my boys, I really do.

Those last few paragraphs were a bit random, I know, but it's 1:40 and this girl is quite tired. Go see The A-Team. Haha.

chinwe