After weeks of travel in distant lands, I have returned to an environment where the tongue I hear is mostly my own. I navigate comfortably through the mass transit and do not question the value of the bill I hold in my hand. The codes of conduct are not unfamiliar and my step is assured.

I wander into a neighborhood and seek a familiar landmark of which there are none. The nighttime casts shadows obscuring any signs to guide my way. The tearing up of asphalt with heavy machinery, glaring lights, cordoned streets, disorient my passage. The streets are barely navigable. I walk on avoiding the impromptu hazards. I walk on. The unfamiliar has yielded to the familiar once again.