The last time I lived in Italy/England, I was still in college. I kept my room at my house in Corvallis, and when I went home I still had a life there, my friends were all still there, it was still home. Now, as most of us have graduated, (or will be graduating soon!) we're all moving off to different places and starting our lives. Most people have stayed in Oregon, moving to various cities, yet others (like myself) have gone further away. Kari and Christie are getting ready to move to San Francisco, Hollye moved to New York, Jeff to Reno, and Chad to Santa Barbara (happy now? - I added you!). Sean moved back to China to teach English (he studied in both China and Japan while in college), and AJ is off tomorrow, heading to Senegal, West Africa where she will spend 2 years in the Peace Corps working with the sustainable agroforestry program.

When people ask me when I'll be going back home, I'm never sure what to say. Having spent the majority of the last 15 years of my life living in Corvallis, I would consider it to be home. Yet now, with no family, and soon to be very few friends still living in Corvallis, I see very little reason to go back there. As anyone who has been to Corvallis knows, there is little to do there if not visit with people. This brings up the question for me of "where is home?" Sure, I have family in America, and they have homes there, but I wouldn't consider any of their homes to be my home. I lived in Portland when I was younger, but I barely remember it and so wouldn't consider it to be home.

While I've only spent a few months in Macerata, I generally consider it to be "home" in Italy, as the majority of my Italian life has happened there, the highest concentration of my friends live there, and I know the city the best out of all of Italy. Yet, although it feels as though I'm going home when I return to Macerata, I dont have a house there any more. Instead, my house is in Milan. And while I have the majority of my belongings here with me, I haven't lived here long enough for it to be home.

So returning to the question of where is home, and when I'll be going back, for the first time in my life, I really dont know. In a way it's quite liberating, and I'm rather enjoying the new sense of life that I am experienceing. While I know that I'll be in Milan for the next year, and that I hope by the end of that year it feels more like a home to me, I'm really not sure where I'll be going next. Perhaps I'll find work and stay here, maybe I'll try my luck in England again, or I might end up heading back to America. Wherever I go though, I wont be going home, I'll be taking my home with me.

___________________________________________________________________

Good Luck AJ! We'll be thinking about you!
Remember, if you have any problems just call up Jose - A pimp always takes care of his girls!