Welcome back, fearless readers! Yada yada I know I haven’t blogged in a long ass time and yeah, I suck, I get it. You know who doesn’t suck? You! Actually, if you’re wasting your time reading something that I’m writing you might want to shut this page now and go find a therapist.

No really, I realize that there are millions of things that your time, your precious online currency could be spent on, and almost 2,000 of you chose to read my last blog waaaaay back in February! I clearly am not friends with that many people on Facebook, so I gotta say thank you all so much!

Anyways, about a year ago I wrote a lame post about how few real friends I had, and how proud I was to have such a small circle. And when you look at my Indiana life, that is still the case. If you’re reading this in Winona Lake or New Haven, there’s a good chance you and I don’t communicate. If you want to change that, be my guest, but please don’t expect a quick response; I’m flaky as fuck when it comes to texting.

I believe that my closed off, introverted space in Indiana was a result of knowing the Midwest too well. After being engrossed in the “Gracie” circle for so long (pseudo-Christian Evangelical), I came to hate you all. No offense to the people who love Grace College and Fort Wayne, you’re probably great with your own quirky personalities, but I don’t want to be like you. I have made a metric shit ton of friends since moving to Tuscaloosa (because I’m just that cool) and I honestly love that.

When I lived in the North, I partook in a ritual I called “Recluse Sundays.” I would lock myself in my room, blocking out the mundane interactions in exchange for takeout and Youtube videos. A couple of Sundays ago, I realized how drastically different I have become.

On that Sunday morning, Morgan and I went to brunch with two other couples we barely knew and we had a hell of a time. There are few things I value more than being wanted, so this invitation (and the promise of french toast) meant the world to me. And while an event like this isn’t too unusual, since after church in Winona Lake our group usually got together for a meal (I ❤ the Merrimans), I would almost always need to leave to regroup myself for the upcoming week of fake interactions.

Not this time, later that day Morgan then went out with our small group from church. Two interactions, with two separate parties, in one day. This classifies as a miracle. But the day didn’t end there!

No, Morgan and I then went and found another group, a third one, and grabbed a couple of drinks. In my entire life, I have never had the mental energy to engage with three separate groups, let alone three individuals, in one day. And I think that renewal has come from how different people are here.

I’ve been working in a pub here for a couple of months now and most of the employees are students at the University of Alabama. Almost all of them have a different background than I do, and their current culture is vastly different than what I was in while in college. I find myself fascinated with this, sure I drank in college but the bar scene didn’t exist (stupid covenant). Before you talked to someone of the opposite sex at Grace, you had better have come up with a hashtag for your wedding. This isn’t the case here at all, shit, Morgan and I have huge crushes on some of my new friends, and no one seems embarrassed or uneasy about it. I have multiple gay friends. There are probably more black people than there are white, and I am loving it. I am constantly interacting with and experiencing varied cultures.

I do want to be clear that these are just my observations and I hope that if you have different ones from Grace or New Haven, that I haven’t upset you. But everyone here seems more real, more upfront about who they are, than a lot of people I knew before moving. Maybe it’s because the weather doesn’t allow a lot of Grace appropriate clothing, or because the food being so good everywhere puts people at ease, but there is something novel about the Dirty South. And if you feel differently, please let me know. If you think this post is bogus and I’m wrong, tell me!

I still have no clue why people care about frats or sororities, and I wish there was a punk scene here, but I have no intentions of going back to Indiana for any long periods of time. I love all of my new friends here and Morgan’s coworkers are just as cool. After living here for ten months, it finally feels like home.

Yeah, I do miss some of y’all in Indiana (long live the Sweaty Hands Club). Aside from a few details (I am aching for a real job) I love our lives here. Our family here is thriving, and I am excited to get to know people for the first time in ages. It feels refreshing and not draining to interact with strangers.

I know this is not some hard hitting post like the Valentine’s Day one, and I get that most people won’t end up reading this far, but to all of you that do, thanks. You’re pretty cool.