I think it's finally here.

It's been a long time coming, and sort of a drawn out process, and the last thing I ever could have suspected set it off, but I couldn't get away from it. I didn't think it was going to happen to me, as I'm way too... fill in the blank. Cultured, independent, disconnected, emotionless, fantastic, extroverted, introverted, friendly, comfortable, all reasons I wasn't going to feel culture shock. But I'm here and now, it is too.
It's reasonable, of course. Being the type of person that denies things unless I can reasonably justify them, I can't deny this. I'm 10,000 miles away from home. The farthest I've ever been from home for more than a week was 400 miles, and I felt culture shock there until it became a home for me too. But now, surrounded by the same 55 people, I realize how few people really know me. Only one person I hang out with regularly BA (Before Africa). I would always talk to a couple of them, but despite the fact that I "knew" over half the people coming here, I didn't really know more than 5, including at least one who I haven't been so close with for a while. This environment is foreign to me, and while I love playing soccer all the time or hiking, it gets to me after a while. Jet lag is horrible enough of a thing when you get a chance to sleep it off for a couple of days, but when you're thrown into waking up at 6:45 ever single morning, it gets to you. Eating a foreign meal is fun once in a while, but when every time you eat the home cooked lamb it glues you to the toilet, you stop eating that lamb, and I only eat meat at some meals now. The breakfast was fine for the first week, but I finally caught on that it's the same damn thing every day. Every day.
I'm just complaining because I don't get to aloud because I know everyone is dealing with the same thing, and negativity added to negativity never ever equals a positive for anyone. This whole "getting to know you" stage is fun with some people, but with 30 it becomes overwhelming, and I don't really want to get to know some of these people too badly. I'm realizing how badly I crave community, but at the same time, I feel at a loss to approach people and I don't know why. I'm just feeling overwhelmed, all compounded by the fact that I just finished a book series that is magnifying the millions of emotions racing inside me to ridiculous degrees.
I was contemplating not posting this, because I know my parents will be freaking out about this. Mom and Dad, I am fine. This culture shock, this homesickness, is nothing worse than what I was expecting, and I am going to be over it real soon. I just wasn't expecting it, so it's slightly surprising to me.
It was all set off with a Mcflurry the other night, but now all I can think of is American food. Federico's and Alberto's, Outback, Panda Express, Hungry Howie's, Little Caesar's, Subway, and any of the other million of establishments I've become dependent on. It's really humbling actually. I had no idea I was so dependent on anything, let alone food that tastes a certain way. I'm learning a lot about myself, and slowly falling in love with the continent of Africa in the process. "Once you taste the waters of Africa, you will be thirsty until you drink from them once more." That's Reg, our program director, and his favorite slogan. Great man, great slogan. Despite all the little irritations here, I'm falling in love with it more and more every day.