Back in California, I was struck by how orderly life was. Traffic lights worked and were respected; pedestrians walked on sidewalks and not in the middle of the streets; people in shops waited in line for their turn to be served, and the world was quieter. No tooting horns; no church bells; no calls for prayer. It felt like a disconnected world, a silent world. Even though I like structure and order, life in the US was too quiet and homogenized for me; it came too easily. There was nothing to fight for, nothing to feel passionate about, and nothing in need of change. I felt satiated and
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