Reacculturating-- Different than Before

My past reacculturation experiences have been similar--when I leave the country to a third world and return to the over-abundance of everything in the US, I am usually overwhelmed for at least a few weeks over the fact that people in other places have so little to their name as far as possessions and material objects go, but that Americans are rolling in heaps of junk, stuff, crap, useless collections and commodities, and frivolity. I felt that would creep into my psyche upon arrival on American soil this go-around, but, with nearly a month of being back, there are other concepts that have hit harder.

I tell you, I cannot believe how dramatically, drastically different the speed of life zooms by in the United States--especially in comparison to the laid-back, calm, take-it-as-it-comes, we'll-get-there-when-we-get-there mind set of Mexico. It is entirely another way to think, live, and be. Returning after three months of Latin bliss was, therefore, a massive paradigm shift for me and it took two weeks for me to break down after realizing the tremendousness of my worldview flip.
 
Back to the life where people talk faster than they can think and their speech is so pressured that you want to fake you have anxiety so you can get a pscyhiatric med prescription to loan to them, people plan and pack so much into their social lives that they have no time for sleeping, people eat huge amounts really quickly and therefore have a multitude of health problems as a result, and you must live by your calendar, planner, or Outlook if you want to survive and not look flaky cause there's too much to do.
 
I miss the times of being able to memorize my social life because it was simple and I didn't have so many friends that I couldn't keep track of who I would be spending time with. I miss how people would stop and chat with you, slowly, calmly, desiring connection, and you don't mind because you have nothing else you have to get to right away. I want to go back to having plenty of time at night to workout, eat a healthy dinner, study, chill out, enjoy conversation, and spend real quality and quantity time with God.
 
Welcome back to the hustle and bustle and rush and craziness of the holidays. I found myself getting rapidly caught up in this hub-bub so naturally after just a short week or two of being here, but began to check myself, have some conversations with those who know me best and determine what this feeling of different reacculturation is. My speech has slowed some, my anxiety levels eased some, and I am attempting to grasp how these two worlds, these two cultures can do more than collide, but perhaps mingle or co-exist. We shall see.
 
In the world of blogging, I have been absent of late, but there are many a thought that I want to capture momentarily so I will be moving forward with that soon enough. Until next time. And, for goodness sakes, take a moment to breathe deeply, slow your words, don't be ready to run from one conversation to the next but savor and soak in the connections with people, and take a moment to literally stop and smell the roses instead of sprinting forward to your next appointment.