I am shocked by how serene I am since moving back to America – to Birmingham, Alabama – from Budapest. Everything I love about life in general is in Europe. But to my surprise and regret, it’s not home. I don’t know why I was wrapped so tight by anxiety in Budapest, but I was. I had a great life there, no complaints – except for no church community, which wasn’t Budapest’s fault, just a matter of my inability in local languages. Being back in the US, in a place where I have access to an Orthodox church in my own language – well, I can literally feel the anxiety uncoiling within me. I can’t explain it, but I’m not going to think about it, just be grateful.

I went to church yesterday at St. Symeon, the Orthodox Church in America parish in town. I had been told by a Baptist friend that the choir is exceptionally good. He undersold it. Man, that was what they call havin’ church! How beautiful it is, and full of young families. I now have a church. No apartment yet, but the more important home has been achieved.

My friend Lee met me for lunch at Johnny’s, one of the town’s Greek diners and it was so unbelievably, gloriously delicious. I had lamb meatballs, black-eyed peas, a double........

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