Sometimes a Starbucks just Helps

I need spring. Tomorrow is the first official day, and I have high hopes that it will help propel me out of the winter doldrums of inactivity, gray skies, and complacency. Okay, perhaps that's a bit dramatic, but I'm definitely needing a helping hand, as the "shine" of living abroad is waning. I am dreading my medical visit in 2 days, (yet another visa-extending process) as I've already been warned that I will be there for hours. On one hand I love that this is "normal" for me: that I bought a movie pass, have a French bank account, informed my landlord that I would move out early to search for a new apartment for next year and I'm looking into 1-year cell phone contracts that will give me a better price than pay-as-I-go. I found an interesting ballet that I want to see this Saturday, I discovered an equestrian performance at Versaille, and I just wrote down information on numerous temporary exhibits around the city that I want to catch. I'm in class every day, I have people to call, places to go, etc. BUT it's just not the same as being able to do the simple, every-day things that I miss about home. I miss walking across Wicker Park. I want to spend a Saturday afternoon shopping with my mom, and last night when my brothers called me from a Notre Dame benefit dinner they attended with my dad and the Foley's, I just really really missed being able to participate in those things. To see Josh's new office, to see how big Scout as gotten, to have coffee at Laetitia's with Leah, to drive up to Plymouth on a Sunday. To ride through the country, or take the time to go ride Mac, to visit my grandma and see my cousins. Sometimes I feel like I have to fill my time here, like because I'm here I need to be exploring and seeing and doing and trying new things. And it's exciting, but I remember feeling this way when I was in Zimbabwe too. After a while, despite how amazing and thankful I was/am to be doing something life-changing and experience-stretching, living in a different country isn't always roses. And I guess it shouldn't be. That's why, despite being rather anti-Starbucks at home, I can't hide my excitement that a Starbucks is about to open in two days at the end of my pedestrian street! Spring really is coming, I'm certain.