one month ago, we temporarily relocated to the middle of nowhere in order to help my cousin daniela get through the national exams (and, fingers crossed, into college). so it’s been a month of synecdoches, trigonometry and mitochondria… but it’s also been a month where we’ve eaten loquats straight from the trees, dipped our feet on the ice-cold water of the water tank, saw my grandpa celebrate his 90th birthday, watered my mom’s vegetable patch and watched the bees buzz around in the afternoon sun…

everything here is simpler, cheaper, sunnier. it all feels foreign and yet, so familiar, so natural. i miss my friends and i miss the big city, but i feel almost… content here. it’s nice, this countryside life.