Americans always think things are going to get better. They are so optimistic!

America, because of its resources and successes, has always had a culture of optimism. Americans believe that they are in control of their own destinies, rather than being victims of fate. Many Americans tend to believe that "the American dream" can be achieved by anyone who is willing to work hard enough. Many Americans believe that the only obstacle to things getting better is "not trying hard enough." Americans also believe that a personal lack of determination or effort can be fixed. Other cultures may believe more in fate ("what will be will be") When something bad happens, some members of these cultures believe it was fated to happen, must be accepted, and cannot be changed.


Building Bridges: A Peace Corps Classroom Guide to Cross-Cultural Understanding

The City

The City

You said, 'I'll go to another land, I'll go to another sea.
I'll find a city better than this one.
My every effort is a written indictment.
and my heart-like someone dead-is buried.
How long will my mind remain in this decaying state?
Wherever I cast my eyes, wherever I look,
I see my life in black ruins here,
where I spent so many years, and ruined and wasted them.'

You will not find new lands, you will not find other seas.
The city will follow. You will roam
the same streets. And you will grow old in the same neighborhood.
and you hair will turn white in the same houses.
You will always arrive in this city. Don't hope for elsewhere-
there is no ship for you, there is no road.
As you have wasted your life here,
in this small corner, so you have ruined it on the whole earth.

C.P. Cavafy, 1910

On Food

Sure, I left for a short time. But did they have to go on and change everything?
They took away my sandwich counter, and I feel starved.

Ok, so technically it's still there - just not the times that I am able to get to it. It's closed up and getting clean once I walk up to it. It feels as if there is a slow-motion quiet going on. I look around and everything is newly named, yet still the same. How could they do such a thing, huh?

Ah, to feel as if you're entering a new world even though you are simply re-entering an old one..

The Leaves

Breathe in, breathe out. Because there is nothing else that I really know how to do at the moment. And perhaps all I've learned how to do in moments of past decisions, moments of panic, second guessing - not knowing - the only thing you can really do is nothing. Simply forget all those options, and put a new one on the table.

Because as much as it can seem frustrating, we just have to wait for those moments of realization to slap us across or face. They always arrive at the wrong time, too late and perhaps never *that* clear. But, they slap us in a caring, loving, gentle kind of way that lets us know we have finally gotten to that little point we were searching for all along.