Dreaming About a Big Mac

I went to McDonalds on Saturday. I know, I know, I went halfway around the world to eat at McDonalds. A restaurant (if you can call it that) that I don’t even eat at when I am home. Not really sure if that makes it better or worse.

However, I promised my little brother, Joey, that I would eat at least once at a McDonalds. Random fact time; there are two in Klaipeda and there were five in Vilnius, although we didn’t eat at any there. I will find out how many there are in Russia when I embark on that trip in March and I hear that they also have Burger King!

However wrong it may be to eat at an American restaurant while in Lithuania I can almost guarantee that I will return. I loved that hamburger and fries so much more than I normally would. For one, the food is better here because the ingredients are slightly different and also, I am missing American food. We got Sloppy Joes on Sunday after church and all the study abroad students where in food heaven. In a way, I am missing the United States. Don’t get me wrong, I am so happy here and nowhere near ready to leave. I doubt whether I will be ready to leave in May. That aside, the US is my home.

Certain people I know and have met in the past few years have tried to make me feel guilty that the US is my home. It’s almost as if I can’t be proud of the fact that I grew up in America as opposed to abroad and I can’t claim the US as my country with happiness. I am a Californian, I was born and raised in California and it is my home. I don’t need to feel guilty about my home. Sure, it may not sound as cool as some other country but it is mine. My roommate was talking to me tonight about why I like it here in the hopes she would like it more. I asked her why she didn’t like it and she said it was because it wasn’t home (she is Latvian). Walking into that McDonalds gave me a 20min escape to home. I was surrounded by familiar smells (fries, mmm) and familiar sights.

I plan to live abroad in the future (how far in the future is still up for debate, I think it will be a long while still). Currently, the destination on my heart is England but we will see where God plants me (Eastern Europe is definitely growing on me). When I get there it won’t matter how long I am gone, the US will always be my home, it will always be a part of me. I am more than okay with that. I am proud of that. I am an American.