A Brother Abroad

I went to Italy once (okay, twice).
But because my brother just left and hasn't posted any pictures, I had to improvise. I tried.

In between the rigorous months of college course-work and party-marathons for those living in their wonder years, my roommates and I add a fourth roommate to the mix (or fifth, if you count my dog as the fourth roommate.) It is obvious when this fourth roommate returns home: there are empty cereal bowls left on the floor beside the couch, every single light in the house is turned out, the washer/dryers have to run every day to accommodate the massive influx of dirty clothing, and all of the snacks in our house miraculously disappear in a matter of hours. I suppose if this semi-permanent house-guest were not my brother, it would be exponentially more intolerable to deal with his seemingly lackadaisical (borderline inconsiderate) habits.

But alas, during the winter months, he crawls back home, forced to relinquish the inflated sense of independence that so many college students revel in while living at school, and not-so-seamlessly assimilates back into parent-supervised suburban life. The roomies and I live a quiet life, used to going to bed early (we're all old people), keeping TV volume at an all-time low and content with low-maintenance dinners. But when #4 returns, the house somehow goes from quiet to loud and empty to full -- even though we're only housing an extra body. Although the roomies and I are generally drama-free (for the most part), the return of #4 brings with it a bit of a tumultuous transition as we can no longer expect to go to bed at 9:30PM without someone still being up and about in the house. Despite this minor commotion, within a week or two, our trio becomes a regular quartet and it's as if my dearest brother never left. 

Until now. My brother is embarking on what nowadays seems like a regular rite-of-passage for most privileged college folk -- he is studying abroad. After a bit of negotiating with the parents, they agreed that it would be a great opportunity and he was off to Rome for the semester. But we had just started to get used to him being home! What will now happen to our little, dysfunctional family unit sans our semi-permanent house guest?

Well, we'll do what we always do, except this time, it is different. Before, my brother was a mere twenty minutes away -- easily accessible whenever my mom had a hankering for doing some extra laundry or when my brother needed to spend some quality time with everyone's favorite roommate (my dog, naturally).Now, we're battling a six-hour time difference in order to communicate and I'm left to deal with my mother's reverse homesickness (she misses him. A lot already). A semester ago, we could check in with him with a quick text or just tune in to the ol' college gossip mill (I know people). My spy-system does not stretch all the way to Italy. Instead, we have to rely on his anecdotal emails and infrequent tweets from afar in order to gain a little insight into what is arguably one of the most important, life-changing and exciting experiences he'll have as a young adult. Strange, right?

As an older sister, it seems as though whenever I'm stuck under the same roof as my brother we constantly bicker and butt-heads, but as soon as we're separated and given the choice to interact with each other, we develop a new-found, mutual appreciation and respect for each other. I will admit this though (and since he doesn't read my blog, I think I'm safe): the house will be a lot less fun, lively and colorful without him around for the next four months. We won't be able to have a surprise visit from him (accompanied by the depletion of our liquor cabinet and supply of Wheat Thins) anytime soon. But we'll be the ones sitting around bored and missing this tornado of tenacity and spontaneity, while he gets to explore the world. I'm hoping that my brother will return at the end of the semester with great memories, valuable experiences and hopefully, a better understanding of the world around him. Fingers crossed that he will also learn to consistently put his dirty dishes in the dishwasher, and maybe even gain a better appreciation for his other three roommates.