happy one monthiversary, merida!

exactly one month ago, on the plane to merida. oh, how young and innocent i look!

dearest merida,

it's our one month anniversary! can you believe it? a whole 4.43 weeks = 31 days = 744 hours {that doesn't actually sound like that many?} of nothing but togetherness and basking in one another's presence.

i can't believe it's been a whole month since i wrote this and bid america farewell, along with all of the gems in it. hi, my gems! i miss you i miss you! but i'm proud to announce it's simply a "miss," and the what were ever-present lump in my throat and constant tears welled up in my eyes threatening to burst through any minute, consuming my every thought, have finally vanished. and in just a week or two i went from feeling  homesick and hopeless to hopeful and happy. 

time is a crazy thing, you know that? 

oh merida, you've taught me so many things in such a snippet of time. through you i've learned so, so much about myself and this big world i'm living in. i learned that i'm actually a bit of a brave biscuit when it comes to trying new things like bucket baths, onions and public transportation. and hey, sometimes those new things aren't so bad! i even kind of like onions! {public transportation, on the other hand, is still a no}. i learned my hair responds fabulously to humidity. i don't need a cell phone to survive. i am capable of carrying on a conversation in spanish. a foreign country can, too, feel like home. i'm bad at budgeting and saying no to food. and i'm learning that i still have so much left to learn. while the remaining two months of the semester feel like an eternity, if they pass at even half the speed this last one did, may will be here in the blink of an eye. 

so no blinking!

what a whirlwind of a month, merida. i look forward to what this next one has in store for us.

well, i'm off to write a letter to the peanut butter company addressing the inconvenience of the shape of the peanut butter jar. you know when you're getting low on supply and there's about two point five inches of peanut butter stuck to the bottom and you can no longer squish and contort your fingers enough to reach down in there? and therefore your nutella to crema de cacahuates ratio on that salty ritz cracker is completely disproportionate? i know, i hate that too. life's injustices.

bueno,

raquel {and as of today "rocky"? a little tough and rascalous... fitting, i'd say. would you agree? i've always wanted a nickname. and a fifteen year old mexican boyfriend, but i got one of those today, too. we should have monthiversaries every day! it did good things to me}.