Athens, Georgia

I'm in Athens, GA.

I last visited this town in 2000.
And it never changes.

It doesn't matter whether it's 1990 or 2011-- there will always be groups of stodgy white guys who wear tucked-in polo shirts, pressed slacks and baseball caps mixed with lone hippies who have long, messy hair.

I'm having a great time, but I often wonder what compels me to visit this place.
I haven't lived here since I was 13, and frankly I usually felt fairly uncomfortable almost every day of my life. When my family moved to suburban Detroit I finally felt as if I was HOME. I didn't even realize that I was uncomortable here until we moved.

People often say that psychology majors are only trying to diagnose themselves, which is totally false in my case. I wouldn't be ashamed to admit that I was confused by my own problems. I wasn't. The study of psychology offered nothing to me about myself. ON THE OTHER HAND, my parents were/are weird to me.
They were much more southern-to-the-bone than I, and Athens is much more their town than mine. They met here, had their first date here, lived here for decades, etc. My mother's father was the head surgeon at Athens Regional Hospital.

So I think that a part of me is constantly trying to unravel the mystery that is my parents, which might seem hilarious to the many people who have told me that I myself am enigmatic.

But I must say that it's very nice to see the shy, warm smiles of the southern belles here, which is extremely rare in L.A.-- it seems to assuage whatever discomfort I might otherwise have. :)