There are moments in the life of an immigrant where we all look up every once in a while and think, “Oh yeah, I actually live here.”  It is kind of a surreal moment in time in which you remember that where you live used to feel much more foreign and perhaps have even a smidgen of the exotic to its feel.  I used to think every once in a while, “What would it be like to live in Europe?”  And now, I do live in Europe and there are just these moments on a Friday morning on the way to nannying in which I look around and think…wow.  Seriously?

Once you have been in a location for a little while you start to really do some of the more mundane things of living in a location.  You go to work. You rest on the weekends. You go to school.  You nod to your neighbors and ask the shop owner about his family.  You have your favorite grocery store and the cashier starts to recognize you.  You know where to turn and when if you want to get to that particular stop.  You aren’t as eager to get out there and explore all the time.  And then you have  a moment were it feels unreal and you remember all the things you still want to do in this “new” space.

I had one of those moments this morning.  I looked up all around me and though, “Oh man, I LIVE here right now.”  The place that people go to visit and become tourists, well, this is where I LIVE.