It’s a peculiar thing. For some reason, it seems that the place where I am most attractive is in Queens – to men, apparently, and to mosquitoes. I’m covered in bites (from mosquitoes, not men) and when I walk down the street, eyes follow me. It’s a change from Dominica, where mosquitoes left me unmolested and guys’ eyes never turned my way while I was watching. I guess when I come home, my natural charm kicks in? Or maybe guys and mosquitoes in NY suck more than in other places? Maybe they’re more bold? Even though I really don’t appreciate it when it occurs, it is simultaneously unnerving and fascinating that while I don’t get checked out on the island (or in Boston, for that matter), I always am when I’m in my hometown.
Queens is just as lovely as I left it and I’ve been spending my days trouncing relatives in boardgames, watching bad movies with pals, following the US Open (Flushing Meadows, baby!) and catching up on politics. In my house, the DNC and RNC were theater and they were compelling. Don’t get me started on what I didn’t like – there was plenty of it – but I was rather touched by the presidential nominee speeches. Obama’s was absolutely awesome and McCain’s was surprisingly humble and genteel.
Ah, vacation was such fun! Learning to become a doctor is cool and all but it was nice to be able to watch tv, sleep late, hang with pals and do stuff I actually like to do for a change. I got to catch up on reading and writing for pleasure – four novels and two poems in two weeks is kinda slow but boy, is it satisfying, moreso than the hour-long professional massage my parents treated me to. I baked a delicious peach pie. I babysat my youngest two cousins, two ridiculously imaginative little girls who had a pretend pagent and improvised fake commercials. It was the most adorable thing.
Being home has been so good that I’m almost reluctant to return to school but in a few days, I’ll be flying back to the rock for another semester of fun. Maybe I’ll go to Art After Dark at the Guggenheim with my cousin or to Sushi Samba 7 with the padres and my little bro. Maybe I’ll have one of those new volcano tacos. So much to do, so little time…