Greenville: Familiarity

In one of my new favorite books, Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert relates an anecdote of being told that every city has a word - you know, that one adjective, noun, or verb that just seems to fit the city, everyone in it, and everything about it. She then searches for her own word. I cannot yet narrow myself down to one; however, I have decided that I will try to label my trip chapters as such. For each portion of this "Farewell Tour," as my father has taken to calling my week-plus excursion, I will try to come up with a word. As the first example, for Greenville, I chose familiarity, because, really, it's been my physical home for the last year more than anywhere else.

I began my road trip with the arrival at my brother's abode. Whilst there, I took a nap, met his new roommate, and made some CDs for my ensuing trip. I then traveled to the summer residence and internship homebase of Melissa, my RA/Big Sister. I dropped off my things and went to a movie with a fellow Bridges counselor, John Odell. I then returned to Melissa's to find that a mutual friend from the Atlanta area, Kelley, was in town visiting some other friends and had stopped by to visit us. We chatted and laughed for a while and mingled with Melissa's housemates; then, Kelley left, and we went to bed. In the morning, Melissa had early morning duties while I slept in, got myself ready, and then met her at the office. I ran some errands, met my brother again, and then spent some time with another former counselor, Shira, before heading out to Cola.

All in all, my time in Greenville went by quickly, as I fear that my time at each of my stops will, but I enjoyed it very much. I could have spent days more there and seen others still employed at the university and such, but my schedule did not permit for that - believe it or not, I do want to spend some time at home, in my own bed, before I leave for three months. Anyway, I got to see some great friends and tie up some loose ends before my departure. I will miss the city; I look forward to my return in the winter!