The first thing I thought when I woke up in my bed in my humble Central Square apartment today was “ooh, it’s still early enough for sunrise breakfast” (which is where I watch the sunrise while being served breakfast). I realized with great sadness then that I would have to make my own breakfast this morning and then even clean my own dishes. My second thought was a frightening “Wait…was Monaco all just a dream??”
Indeed, the whole trip really felt like a dream. A dream where I got to live a completely different life. The Shanying in the Monaco life was a social elite, chatting with some of the most highly influential people: professors, CEOs, Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Directors, etc. This alter-Shanying donned on her Karen Millen dress as if she had a whole walk-in closet full of these types of dresses, drank her never-empty wine over dinner, wore her heels without complaining about the pain, and floated between tables in the large Gala dining hall full of fabulously dressed men and women, laughing with acquaintances and meeting new ones.
But now Shanying is grounded again in Cambridge, suddenly responsible for making up material for her classes, figuring out why her lab experiments keep failing, cooking her own meals, and cleaning her own apartment. Nothing is handed to her on a silver platter with a smile and a french accent anymore. And you know what? Nothing beats the feeling of being truly alive and normal and in control again.
I leave you with the only other picture of my fashionable attempts: the Gala dress. And now, off to lab!!
The dress is quite lovely, but the model is truly stunning!!!