(10) It is strange to feel a stranger

Honolulu has received me in open arms, I would say. The weather has been great, and, in this concern, I simply feel home. The very few people I so far have been in contact with have been extremely gentle, including my supervisor who met with me more than once and gave me the initial attention we always need when we venture out to engage in such an endeavor. Nothing to complain about. Even so, why do I still feel strange being a stranger? For some reason, I still let myself hide in a sort of invisible silence, so people would nor perceive that I am a little bit uncomfortable with my new condition It is hard to move from the condition where you are fully well-known person to another where you are almost ignored. Not saying this is on purpose or anything; it's only natural. It takes some time for you to at least become part of a community. But it does feel strange to walk around and have no place where to leave your stuff, better, not having any stuff yet, not experiencing that sense of belonging which takes us away from the aforementioned comfortable invisibility. But I'm not an ostrich, I do want to use the best strategies to make myself visible. That's why I froze my life in Brazil to come to work here. And I'm sure as time goes by, this feeling will disappear. As the saying go, 'first things first'. These changes in our lives grant us with butterflies in our stomach, but at the same time help us face life in a more assertive way. Slowly, I discover Honolulu and its mysteries. Slowly, I think I will be able to realize that there is always the time of transition, and depending on what we do with it, it will be longer or shorter. Hopefully, in this experience, it will be brief.