Already Sweaty

I returned to Gainesville on Thursday night and was surprised by how comforting the familiar scenery was as I drove down my leafy, oak-lined avenue. But it suddenly seemed less comforting when I got out of the car and was assualted by the smell of Florida: mildewy, damp, rotting. I once read people tend to resettle in places that smell like where they grew up; that we are deeply (though perhaps not consciously) connected to the smells of where we live. So then the question is will mildew smell comforting after six years here, or will I feel unsettled until I find another place that smells like Moscow?

I smashed a huge cockroach in my room the other night. It wasn't quite as unpleasant to kill cockroaches in Senegal on the floor of my hut where I could just brush out the carcass with my flip flop. But on wood floors, you've got to wipe away the oozing mess with a paper towel. Yesterday evening we got one of those downpours that you could shower in, and I drove over to my friend's house with the windshield wipers on the highest possible speed. Remember how I recently realized the similarities between Florida and Senegal? The cockroaches and warm downpours are yet another likeness to Senegal.

I rode my bike to school yesterday in a tank top and felt sticky and sweaty when I arrived. Today it is 84˚F and sunny with relatively high humidity. Quite a change from scaly legs and constantly static-y hair (at least it dried quickly) in below freezing temps for the last few weeks.

Yesterday I also went to get my knee checked out just to be sure I didn't do serious damage in my cross country skiing fall last week and because I had been experiencing some severe pain in that same knee prior to winter break during my runs. Most campus medical care is notoriously bad, but I was rather pleased with my experience at UF's Student Health Center yesterday. Everyone was friendly, and the service was prompt. The doctor said my knee looks okay; perhaps it was just a sprain. But that's what they said about my ankle at Pomona. Years later I found a bone chip in that same ankle when I had to X-ray it for another sprain. Jeremy pointed out I was lucky to get out the Claremont Colleges Student Health Center alive. I'm not supposed to go running for another week, so we'll see how my knee feels then.