America is fascinating. In an expounding to [[baltimore, maryland]], I stayed with two different [[kilimanjaro]] friends — the Sparlings & Prince. With the Sparlings, fresh off a plane that nearly checked all my belongings to the Bahamas, I was overwhelmed as soon as I stepped into the country that I will call home for the next few years: an Uber that never dipped below 70 mph in 30 mile zones, [^1] a pair of adorable dogs, the warm parental laughter, the loud music in the basement, the even more exuberant teenage laughter floating up from the party that I had assumed would begin nearly two hours after my arrival, but would actually start before I landed. With Prince, the South felt a little slower: trying to eat our way through every unique fast food chain, games of 2K and the Olympics interspersed throughout the meals. The exception, of course, being whenever Prince took me to lose to him at pickleball, during which games seem to go very fast (11-3 was the closest I got). More than anything, I feel as though the comforts of hospitality & friendship often take different forms, and I feel very grateful that I've been exposed to such a range; or more precisely, that I'm surrounded — through shared, extremely uncomfortable, mildly dangerous, thoroughly enjoyable experiences — with so many people to be comfortable with. [^1]: Roughly: 115km/hr; something a lot less than 115km. Forgive my reluctant usage of these units — something about the Stateside indoctrination.