11 Countries and 3 Continents

I've had days where my shirt is from India, my earrings are from England, my necklace is from Thailand, my bracelet is from South Africa, my toothpaste is from Switzerland, my purse is from China, my deodorant is from the Dubai airport, and my heart is somewhere in Italy.

I am feeling strangely sentimental about my chipped manicure and the fact that my toothpaste is almost gone.  I finally figured out how to have a cool slide show on my screen saver to have my trip pictures up.  A plane ticket to Switzerland would cost about a semester's worth of tuition.  I still am not sure how to handle the smell of curry.  Sometimes I still feel weird about drinking out of the tap.  I haven't gotten used to wearing something other than my Nikes and three shirts.  My hair has actually been done for the past month.  I still drink Diet Coke more than ever before.  Chocolate just doesn't do it for me, unless it's Milka Oreo.  I still forget that the Czech Republic was a thing.

I do my best not to really talk about it, but I think people would be surprised at how often my brain isn't actually in America.

I guess this is all to say that I really want to tell people about my sunburn in Bath.  The way the elephant's hairs were prickly.  I want to talk about the 'turtlenecks' in Prague.  I want to break my gelato record. I wouldn't mind giving Italian pizza another shot.  I want to wander the grocery store aisles, trying to figure out just what I was buying.  I would be ok having another Jr. Whopper at 2 am flying to India.  I wouldn't mind eating at a South African buffet where the strawberry cheesecake was great and there was a zebra out the window.  I want to ride a gondola up to a hike with a view that was incredible.  I want to sit at a Mountain Hostel and watch the sun set, making the mountains pink.  I want to be an honesty shopper.  I want to eat that gnocchi that was life-changing and only $6.  I want to walk the streets of Mumbai and sign my autograph on the hands that just kept coming.  I want to see the Taj, say hi to my old friend.  I want to sit and take another selfie at the Temple of Heaven, not wearing my sunglasses.  I want to go back and ride the camel in India, a chance I missed out on.  I want to take more pictures of the Great Wall of China...and maybe not wear pants this time around.

And since it has been a month, part of me thinks.  Yep, Elise, you should move on.  Embrace the office job and the schoolwork.  When I put it like that, I can't really blame myself for wanting to run away.

So expect a lot of written stories and pictures in the future.  Because as Meg said constantly on the trip, "I'm still not over it."