Fall semesters at DTS are the worst; we begin mid-August and don't get a break until mid-November. That is an excruciatingly long time to do readings and papers and presentations. Having learned from last year, I planned my own mini-Fall Break, and here at the end of it, I declare it a resounding success.
It helps that my Thursday classes went surprisingly well. I walked into practicum at 7:45 a.m. and told Dr. Dickens, "I've been nervous all week anticipating your role playing! Angry clients are what I fear most!" He laughed and said, "I'm really tired today. I probably won't manage to be very angry." So I volunteered to counsel him first, and it was crazy frustrating, but he complimented me when it was over. More importantly, there are nine more classmates to go through before I take another turn, so I won't have to be nervous for at least two more weeks.
On Friday in the airport, I thought about my counseling sessions. Cathalina says I'm very hard on myself, and I realized that I've taken even positive things about myself and twisted them so that they're negative. Lately I've thought of traveling as escaping, and what an immature move that is. I still think traveling is my escaping, but now I'm not so sure escaping is bad.
Two of the things I love about traveling are 1) being alone in a crowd, and 2) being surrounded by people speaking a language other than English. As an extremely self-conscious individual, it is freeing to be alone, to be allowed to ignore people and not worry if I ought to say something or contribute to the conversation, to wander off in my own head without offending someone with my silence. It's freeing, I realized. It's peaceful. I felt utterly at peace sitting in seat 27F, gazing out of the airplane and watching earth fall away beneath me.
We flew through forests of clouds, this ridiculously beautiful display of Neverland-quality whimsy. I've always been in love with the sky, and this was stunning. In the peace and beauty, I felt like I clicked back into step with God. I was effusive in thanksgiving, and I smiled, "I could die right now, God, this is all I need." Then we hit three minutes of turbulence, and the smile turned into a grimace of, "Not that you have to kill us, okay?" We didn't crash.
I went to Maryland to visit Elizabeth. She was the roommate of my best friend from college. I saw her pretty frequently since I was at their dorm a lot, but we've never hung out alone. I was a bit nervous, actually, but that turned out to be unfounded. During our drive from the airport through DC and on to her apartment, we talked about depression and introversion and marble buildings and pets and fast food and jobs. At her apartment I gravitated toward her bookshelf, and we spent the night exchanging book recommendations and watching Modern Family.
On Saturday we visited F. Scott Fitzgerald's grave. We honored America's greatest writer then rode into DC to honor England's greatest writer at the Shakespeare Museum. We lucked into a tour of the reading room, where we stood amongst beautifully old books and dark wood with people unashamedly in love with academia. We wandered toward Capitol Hill, taking in the unique and adorable houses and the trees changing colors in their yards. We grabbed sandwiches and meandered through a street market. I bought mahjongg tile earrings in honor of the computer game I so often played with my grandpa as a kid.
We found a house converted into used book store, every space covered in towers of books, piled to the ceiling, sitting in stacks on the floor. Books went horizontal and vertical, stacked two-deep in endless bookshelves. Elizabeth and I separated and gawked and perused, reuniting to exchange book finds and ask, "Did you see that note taped to the middle shelf in the back of the second floor next to the cookbook section?"
After fortifying ourselves with nutella lattes, we rode back to Elizabeth's car. In planning our evening, we decided for a laid back evening of entertainment.
Elizabeth: I thought we were going to watch Doctor Who.
Me: We were?
Elizabeth: Yeah, that's what you said when we were planning this trip.
Me: I did? You're okay with that?
Elizabeth: Yes!
Me: This. Is the best. Trip. Ever. Where should we start!?
Before space-traveling Time Lords, we bought food for dinner. I told Elizabeth about my repeated visits to Uwajimaya in Seattle. "We have a lot of Asian supermarkets here. Would you like to go to one?" she asked. "Yes," I replied. "I'll buy us mochi ice cream for dessert." "I've always wanted to try that!" she said. "We are the same person," I marveled.
Stuffed with chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes, and mochi, we watched four episodes of Doctor Who, one from each of the four seasons. We definitely watched the episode with Martha and Shakespeare, happily quoting the woman who gave us the tour, "I like to think Shakespeare and his earring were rather dashing!"
Sunday morning led to office visits and lazy Starbucks breakfast, over which we discussed Harry Potter, the salvation of animals, and Joshua Harris's church. We took the scenic route to the airport, and I flew away from vacation back to reality. I had escaped, and in escaping I had learned to breathe. I had an absolutely lovely time with a new old friend, and I was given the emotional capacity to return to DTS and kick the last half of the semester in the butt.
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