Le Fin and a Beginning

"How did we both go from expats to Texans??" I asked my friend who recently moved from Switzerland to Houston. Neither of is really sure how it happened, but I'm pretty sure we both reminisce about our jet-setter lives in Europe daily.

I have been back in the US for a couple of months. The adventure had to come to an end sometime, or at least to an intermission. We spent several weeks in North Dakota with family after our time away, waiting to see what our next move would be. I haven't spent so much quality time with my parents since I was in college. In fact, the whole time I was home felt like summer would wind down and my parents would drive me back to my dorm at UND. It was awesome. I got a glimpse of what life would be like if we decided to move back home, being able to have meals with my siblings and hang out with my niece and nephews frequently without having to take days off of work or purchase flights. I was gardener when my mom needed a hand; I was legal secretary when my dad's was sick; I was babysitter several times for my favorite kids in the world.

My brother asked if I got it all out of my system. Absolutely not. Several people asked what was the best part about living in Europe; what was the best place I visited; what is my best memory. I answer differently every time, because it all was the best. I didn't go there to see anything special or do anything significant. I went to just be there and see what would happen.

If I had to really choose favorite moments... well, celebrating St. George's day in a Bulgarian village with a Bulgarian family, bike riding through the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium, improving my French by having deep conversations about politics with bartenders and regulars in Paris, meeting up with friends in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul after a failed attempt at meeting at the Blue Mosque, walking along the bank of the Seine and the Black Sea beaches with Majerle, watching the Super Bowl among Americans and Parisians at 3:00 in the morning, Dutch breakfasts with Jacques, French lunches with Aurienne and Jack, long walks through Montmartre or the Marais with Brock, eating $1 kebabs on the beach in Varna, hosting guests who graciously slept on the old cracked tile floor in my 300 square foot parisian apartment, my view of the top of the Eiffel tower from my kitchen window....

clearly, my indecisiveness extends to choosing favorites, not that I really need to select one anyway.

And so now life has taken us to Dallas. I never really planned to visit Dallas, let alone live anywhere in Texas. But so far, I can't complain. We rented a recently renovated midcentury apartment downtown and live on the 18th story with beautiful city views. Every day we venture out on foot or via the light rail to discover cool neighborhoods. I can't believe how nice people are here. Everyone says hello when we pass them and everyone seems genuinely cheerful all the time.

I originally thought that moving to Texas could not be better than just going back to Phoenix. I mean I have friends and family in Phoenix and I know the city well. But now I can see that Dallas was a good place to end up for now. It's more different from Phoenix than I thought it would be and I feel like I'll have the lifestyle I want here. We will likely end up back in Phoenix eventually, so I'm happy I get to meet a new city before that happens. Now lets just hope I can find a job.