:: where i've been ::

It's been two weeks now. Exactly. I took this picture two Saturdays ago, the first of 14 days spent almost entirely in that little clearing in the rainforest. Today I am back in the city.

So today has been a little hard to process. This morning, jungle and dirt and people who grow the food they eat. Tonight, a mall with a coffee shop advertising its wireless internet, and people who all know the benefits of "teknologi." A well-groomed Chinese man is sitting directly in front of me, smoking a clove cigarette and talking on his cell phone... via a bluetooth earpiece. A fragrance shop across the way is advertising its new line using a picture of a nearly naked woman (are you ok with that now, Indonesia?). It just feels like someone traded my quiet childhood in for a new and improved version.

But I smiled when I went into the restroom in this shiny new mall because every stall is a squat pot. I guess some things haven't changed.

Last night I packed the scent of America into my suitcases. I didn't mean to, but I know it's there. It always is. I always smelled it in packages, glorious packages, from friends in the States. Now I am the "friend in the States," and I hope I come through.

So goodbye for a little while, America. I'll be back, and maybe then I'll be able to smell you again.