It's not unusual to feel like a better, freer version of yourself here; skipping down the street with a local friend, who has invited you to eat with her family, hopping over puddles because you have two more miles to walk and you don't want to get your shoes wet.
There is easy togetherness that occurs in cultures that place high value on human relationships. We respond to that because humans were designed to be together, but in the US, it's like we've found ways to make that as inorganic and difficult as possible.
