{"id":1403,"date":"2017-05-17T00:52:40","date_gmt":"2017-05-17T05:52:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gilcanrun.com\/?p=1403"},"modified":"2017-05-17T00:52:40","modified_gmt":"2017-05-17T05:52:40","slug":"after-all-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gilcanrun.com\/?p=1403","title":{"rendered":"After all that"},"content":{"rendered":"

Looks like I can stay in my usual running routine. This is a good thing. I got out today and took it easy<\/a>. A little humid, but a nice morning to run. Even had enough time to meet with my landlord and pay rent. Now I’m paid up until I go on Summer Vacation.
\nSo that’s what was in my mind. I feel a major difference when I’m here. Sure I love my family and miss them sometimes, but overall I am much happier here. I get to live life the way I want to for the most part. If I didn’t have to work I could go days without speaking to anyone. I can go to the sea, well I do technically go every day. As my usual running route takes me to the port. I cook the best meals I’ve ever made in my life, drink fantastic wine that is super cheap.
\nThe point is, I’m a generally happy person and being here really allows me to express that. The weight of expectations back in New England often limited that expression. There are always things that will be difficult. Conflict makes life exciting, for better or worse. But the conflict here, scheduling issues, having to wait for a train, or people driving like idiots are so minimal, so relatively benign. The crushing debt, both literal and figurative, of American life simply does not agree with me.
\nThat being said, it will be nice to see everyone and get some paperwork done, like renewing my license. I would certainly feel better about returning there if things were a little more stable with the government, I am very concerned still about going through airport security. I worry about them taking my phone and stuff like that. Not because they’ll find anything, just because it’s a shitty thing they’re doing and I’ll make a scene. Because we should make a scene, this shit isn’t right, it isn’t normal. But I’ll cross that bridge if I come to it.
\nRight now, I’m waiting for the bus to get to my first class of the day, taking the bus here is new for me. I took a short contract at a company outside the downtown area to make a little extra money before the break. The only way for me to get there is by bus or a very long walk in a very intense Sun. I’ll spend the Euro on the bus.
\nBut I’m sitting on these new benches they installed in the shopping area and so many people complained about. They’re modern, they look a little weird, I get it. But they’re comfortable and if more people skated in this city, they’d be getting used for that. They have a nice edge to grind on and one side angles down to the ground. And for all the complaints, the fact is people have no problem sitting on them. It allows me to sit and glom off the McMurder’s wifi signal. Terrible of me, using the WiFi of a company I hate.
\nHey, it’s not my fault they are killing the Earth and they can’t even manage to keep meat out of French fries. So they get my info for their wifi login and so be it. When I get back in September I’ll see if I can bump my cellphone data up to 5 or 6gb a month and then I won’t have to use WiFi Hotspots at all, ha. But do you see how small my daily worries are here? Some really meaningless stuff. It not only allows me to be happier personally, but I get to spend more time pursuing new knowledge and examining old. It allows me to look at the injustices visited on other people and try and craft messages to fight those injustices, to make life better for the oppressed.
\nOverall, me being here is a positive, and not just for me. So I’m going to hope I can keep this going for a very long time, and I also hope instead of just trying to lure me back that my friends and family would come see how truly wondrous this experience is.
\n*Edit: I didn’t get a chance to publish this yesterday.
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