The difference between American adventures and Indonesian adventures is so striking. Indonesian adventures were nearly always urban and always kinda spontaneous; half the fun was walking around being pelted with 'hello mister's, trying mystery street foods, interacting with intimidated young children. I miss being able to board a bemo not knowing where it was going, even though that nearly always ended very, very badly.
American adventures involve a lot more trees, a lot more quiet, and a lot more climbing over fences (without being caught by ever-present security guards). Now, I can drive and I even have my own car, which is nice but much less conductive to spontaneity. It's a bright teal Dodge Neon that sputters when I try to start it up, that rides so low to the ground that driving my mom's Jeep feels like I'm taking the wheel of a tank. I haven't named him/her yet. It'll take a while. Maybe I'll go with something chunky and respectable, like Agung or Putri or Wedyawati.
Speaking of adventures, I decided not to go out of state for school next year. Really, if it was up to me I wouldn't be going to school at all next year, but if I'm not in school I have to pay rent to live at home, which I'd rather not do! So I'm going to take a few classes at the local community college and spend the rest of my time working, saving up the dolla bills to go WWOOFing or volunteering through HelpX. I already found a farm in Sicily that makes organic makeup, but who knows where I'm going. Partly because I'm really bad at saving my money.
I'm just really excited to not be in high school anymore, to be graduating despite some enormous struggles (with chemistry especially). We finished the senior edition of the newspaper and it looks really, really, really good - I designed the biggest, most info-heavy pages of the issue and I am SO EXCITED to see them in print.
In general, my life feels a lot less constipated now that I'm about to get my diploma. Later in June I'll be off to DC for some YES Abroad/AFS-related events, which will be career-building and epically cool; I even have some free time in DC which I plan on spending hanging out with other alumni, and wandering the Smithsonians at will. The only time I even got to set foot near the museums was during WJMC last summer, and having limited time meant that some friends and I just ran in, bought dinosaur pens, ate, and had to run out again without really seeing anything. I'm excited to spend some time with dinosaur bones and old documents. We're gonna have a grand old time.
