Well I'm back... I see that "Mike So Def" managed to post as many times as I did during my vacation, which is to say 'not at all'. To be fair, I probably should given him proper notice. The important thing is that I'm back.
None of you know how closely I came to never coming back at all... Seriously... As of Friday afternoon, less than 24 hours before my return flight was set to take off, I was officially not coming back... I was going to stay indefinitely. To hell with the consequences.
Finally at around 5 a.m. Saturday morning (less than 12 hours before our flight was to depart) my brother-in-law, a bartender, and a lovely young waitress named Yanira convinced me that losing my job, flunking out of school, getting evicted from my apartment, having my car repossessed, and my wife divorce me, would probably seem like a bad decision a few years down the line.
I'm pretty sure they were right... But I have to say, it sucks being back.
I miss my hammock... I miss having cuajada, platanos con crema, and tortillas every morning for breakfast... I miss walking into town and buying 10 pupusas and 3 bags of horchata for $4.00... I miss the roosters... I even miss carrying a bucket of water to the bathroom to flush the toilet!
Somehow in DC it went from 'still warm and green outside' to 'freezing cold with all the leaves on the ground' in the week I was gone. My cell phone also mysteriously stopped working in my absence so I've got that going for me as well... and to make matters even worse I still haven't managed to readjust to the time zone switch!
This morning I woke up to my alarm clock going off at 4 a.m. and actually thought I was still in the Salvadoran countryside. I woke up Morena and impatiently told her to find my flip-flops and flash light because I was going to walk outside to use the bathroom.
She looked at me like I was crazy and it wasn't until I began to get out of bed and felt carpet instead of tile under my feet that I realized that not only was I not in El Salvador, but that I actually had to get up and go to work! I wanted to bury my face in my hands and cry.
On a positive note, it is nice to once again have access to hot water and cow-free roads... And I have pages upon pages of stories in my moleskine (some of which are even suitable for sharing!). But for now I'll just say that while I may not be glad to be back, I am back.
Here are just a couple of pictures I took along the way:
Finally at around 5 a.m. Saturday morning (less than 12 hours before our flight was to depart) my brother-in-law, a bartender, and a lovely young waitress named Yanira convinced me that losing my job, flunking out of school, getting evicted from my apartment, having my car repossessed, and my wife divorce me, would probably seem like a bad decision a few years down the line.
I'm pretty sure they were right... But I have to say, it sucks being back.
I miss my hammock... I miss having cuajada, platanos con crema, and tortillas every morning for breakfast... I miss walking into town and buying 10 pupusas and 3 bags of horchata for $4.00... I miss the roosters... I even miss carrying a bucket of water to the bathroom to flush the toilet!
Somehow in DC it went from 'still warm and green outside' to 'freezing cold with all the leaves on the ground' in the week I was gone. My cell phone also mysteriously stopped working in my absence so I've got that going for me as well... and to make matters even worse I still haven't managed to readjust to the time zone switch!
This morning I woke up to my alarm clock going off at 4 a.m. and actually thought I was still in the Salvadoran countryside. I woke up Morena and impatiently told her to find my flip-flops and flash light because I was going to walk outside to use the bathroom.
She looked at me like I was crazy and it wasn't until I began to get out of bed and felt carpet instead of tile under my feet that I realized that not only was I not in El Salvador, but that I actually had to get up and go to work! I wanted to bury my face in my hands and cry.
On a positive note, it is nice to once again have access to hot water and cow-free roads... And I have pages upon pages of stories in my moleskine (some of which are even suitable for sharing!). But for now I'll just say that while I may not be glad to be back, I am back.
Here are just a couple of pictures I took along the way:
(the view from the family house in the country).
(my hammock is the one in the middle)
(the border coming back from Honduras)
(the front of our house in San Miguel)
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1 comment:
Joel!!! welcome back!! the pictures are great!!! I'll be going to mexico on the 2nd of November and i cant wait!!! like my sister says "tengo un pie en el avion y el otro listo para suvirce!!" i'll probably be feeling like you..not wanting to come back.
You must share some of those stories!!
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