Rain Makes You Feel Weird Everywhere

Normally, I love the rain, especially on Sundays. It rained on and off all day yesterday. The island was cool and quiet, and my curtain made my whole room feel alive and fresh; like a diaphragm lending fresh air in and escorting used air out of my happy little half-pink-and-half-gray-walled chambre. It was a perfect day to watch episodes of Friends in French and eat warm food without leaving my jammies. A good day indeed.

Today, though, is Monday. It's not that I have a particularly huge amount of work to be done, or a lot of class to attend. On the contrary, my life here is much quieter than it is in Maryville. I have less class, and fewer responsibilities. While I do have a small job teaching English to kindergarteners in the local public schools (my hat goes off to all teachers and care givers of small children everywhere), my agenda is rather liberal. I really miss the hustle and bustle of Maryville and my responsibilities to my amazing school and my friends and my team. It's hard being so far away from my life. But, as I keep reminding myself, my life is not put on hold simply because I am here and it is there. I wrote about this (with a slightly more optimistic view) a few months back. I live here now, and this here is as much my life as are my cross country team, ResLife job, and SGA Class Presidency (which I may actually miss the most- my classmates mean the world to me and it's hard being away from their lives. Incidentally, I am up for re-election, and will have to run a campaign from over here starting tomorrow, so please wish me your best).

I sort of forgot what the point of this post was. Perhaps to vent, or to publicly share some of me, but whatever the case, Tropical Storm Jade (a surprise for us Indian Oceaners post-cyclone season) is getting into my head.

Studying abroad is the best thing I could have done for my growth. I find myself striving to communicate more effectively, make clear my ideas and motivations, make friends with complete strangers, and identify what exactly drives me to do, say, and feel the way I do-and, more importantly, how others percieve those things. As much as I'm learning French and riding the roller coaster of new cultural experiences, I am meeting a girl named Chelsea. And I like where it's going.

Today I took the Myers-Briggs personality test (http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes1.htm) for the first time in several years. I've found that "my personality" (ENFJ) has become slightly more moderate since the last time I took it. I wonder if that's really true, but it's nice to read up on the profile of my type and feel like someone gets me in the sense that they understand where I'm coming from. It's a great test; I suggest everyone takes it. It'll only take you about 3 minutes, and it's not like you can get anything wrong.

For now, though, I will continue on my merry way for a chocolat chaud and a solid bit of translation work to clear my head. Thanks for loving me.

Always,
Chelsea

BARKER Chelsea
Chambre 628
Cité Internationale
Université de La Réunion
15, Avenue René Cassin - BP 7151
97 715 Saint-Denis Messag.9 Cedex
LA REUNION
FRENCH OVERSEAS TERRITORY

chelsea.barker@my.maryvillecollege.edu