I’ve recently returned from a visit back to the Good Ol’ US of A, and in retrospect, it was as I expected it to be: fun and jam-packed and exciting and overwhelming and rushed and over in a flash. I was able to visit a lot of people and do a lot of things, but not nearly as much as I wanted to. Which was good in a way, because it left me wanting more and makes the idea of returning for good in 8+ months that much more enticing.
I’ve been back for about 3 weeks, granted, this blog is well overdue… but I’ve been busier than I expected to be and a bad storm kicked out the power for nearly 2 weeks in site. In coming back, I half expected to have some sort of decline into sadness, as is the reaction of many volunteers after returning from a fun-filled American vacation. But, I must say the transition has been comfortable. I’m back, and am getting into the swing of things, and it almost feels as if visiting home was a dream… the kind you can still taste when you wake up.
Most things at home felt the same to me, and transitioning wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. But, being away from America for almost a year and a half and then revisiting it for a few days certainly did make my reactions more acute. So I thought I’d share the culturalities (you know what I mean) that stuck out to me, either good, bad, or in between.
First let’s start out on a high note…
HOT GUYS!!!!!!!
Whoa… I had forgotten this. I admit, it’s hard to confess this without feeling the tinsiest bit racist, but Salvadoran men just don’t do it for me. I mean, if I actually find one who is my height and has all of his teeth, chances are he’s a chauvinist idiot anyway (BURN!). And don’t get me wrong, some of the other male volunteers here sure are lookers, but I don’t get to see them all that often. And then… I come back to San Diego, and it felt like sensory overload. Everywhere I went were these tall, young, tan, handsome, built guys, with whom I would normally keep my lid on, but after 17 months of Salvadoran seclusion I was practically drooling.
My friend Chelsea invited me to this small party where I knew guys would be, and I found myself feeling extremely nervous beforehand. I mean, this was the first time I was to fraternize with American men after quite a while. But after I got over my initial ogling, I actually faired pretty well (wink wink). I’m not saying American men are perfect (could you imagine me making such a statement?), but they sure are nicer to be around than Salvadoran hombres, and in my opinion, much easier on the eyes.
THE FOOD
Oh… how you treat me so sweet! I didn’t even make it a point to go out to fine restaurants, but I found that the overall broad variety and availability of food to be incredibly enjoyable. Even the smaller things... I had a toasted cinnamon-raisin bagel with peanut butter and blueberry preserves and I nearly passed out from delight. At restaurants I would normally order HUGE salads that were so beautiful and colorful and fresh… MMMMMMM. You get the picture, I was in heaven. To be honest, these past weeks of ramen noodles and rice has been difficult. So I’ll keep this one short because reminding myself what I’m missing isn’t exactly appetizing.
WASHERS AND DRYERS
I almost cried as my first load of laundry came out of the dryer all warm and soft and fresh, effortlessly so… it was sooooo beautiful. I had forgotten that “clean” has an array of scents: “mountain fresh”, “lemon zest”, “spring rain”… I had gotten used to “not so pungent that you’ll throw up and only a little bit of mold” denoting “clean”.
HOT SHOWERS
During my first bucket-bath upon returning to ES, I cried something incomprehensible in both English and Spanish as I dumped the first pale over my head… something like “YOWZERBIGERSONFRIG!!!!!” But soon readapted. Of course the hot showers at home were lovely, but to be honest, I was bad at it after getting used to bucket-bathing. I mean, I kept trying to lather, but this hot water constantly kept falling and preventing me. I had to re-teach myself how to shave with one leg lobbed out the side. A challenge I happily rose to since yes, the water was oh so wonderfully warm.
DRIVING
O por DIOS, I hadn’t realized how much I missed this. I was a little uneasy getting behind the wheel again, wondering if I’d remember stick-shift and how to make a left turn at an unprotected light. So for the first go, I over-cautiously drove about 58 miles per hour in the right lane. But after about 15 minutes, it all came back to me and I was soaring. There was something so satisfying to driving in the afternoon with the window down and listening to NPR. Wow… I should put that last sentence under “my hobbies” on a dating site and see how I do.
I could fill many pages with all the good things I enjoyed about being home… but instead, I’m going to go ahead and move on and do what I do best: complain about the bad….
VAMPIRES
You heard me. WTF? I don’t get it. Dracula’s been around for ages, so why the sudden surge? Thanks a lot Stephanie Meyer. It’s not just the Twilight rage... which, I must take a moment and admit depresses me. I mean… can’t people tell the difference between bad and good when it comes to writing and to movies (sorry Pattinson… you’re gorgeous, but come on!)? I picked the first two books of that saga up down here to see what all the commotion was, and I wanted to throw them into the latrine upon reading. (And yet, I want to read the last two…what is wrong with me?!?) But then I come back the States and it’s everywhere I go, on tee shirts and billboards, and in every store. But more than Twilight, there are about 7 different spin-offs on TV right now. What is it with these vampires? I don’t understand what it’s saying about our culture… I’d like to hear Freud’s opinion. I don’t know, having fresh eyes to see the newest fad made me realize the absurdity that flows behind them. I guess it’s better than that giga-pet phase.
BRIGHT COLORS
I’m not talking about on clothes and in works of art… that was lovely to see… I mean the actual color that some people are in So-Cal. The first time I went to Coronado, I kept on seeing these creatures, whose skin was bright orange, and whose hair was highlighter yellow. I wondered if some nuclear reactor had leaked somewhere nearby. I couldn’t help it, I was continually stricken with awe by how unnatural a lot of these girls seemed to me. They looked like they couldn’t escape some ominous black-light. Ba pues, it made me chuckle, and crave the Salvadoran ideals of beauty, which are much more natural and forgiving.
IMPATIENCE…. NOT A VIRTUE
One of the most prominent aspects I noticed interpersonally was an overall lack of patience. I guess in living with a bunch of rural, poor, Salvadorans who can’t rely on anything and who have to wait forever for everything…. patience comes par for the course. So, it shouldn’t have been much of a surprise, but I definitely noticed how impatient Americans are.
I’m not saying that I’m particularly patient, nor should my opinion speak true for everyone. But boy, I couldn’t believe how antsy and fidgety people were, and how much small stuff was being sweat. People who I even thought were patient exhibited edginess, particularly when behind the wheel. I mean really, does it make things better to get upset that the light’s still red? There are a lot of great things about Americans, but when it comes to patience, Salvadorans have got us beat.
Okay, and this last one evens out.
GOOD AND BAD TV
Salvadoran TV in general is pretty god-awful. It basically consists of bad telenovelas (redundant, I know) and cheesy American films that have trickled down and have been dubbed over. Coming home and getting a reminder of American TV was both refreshing… and terryfing.
I didn´t watch much TV, but I did watch episodes of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, and they reminded me of just how funny and clever and original certain shows can be. I kept thinking how there´s nothing even remotely creative like that on TV where I live. But this high soon came to a hault because then I caught afew minutes of the over-hyped The Jersey Shore, and thought thank god I don´t get American TV down there.
THE OVERALL SKINNY
Coming home for a while was wonderful. And the best part of course, was spending time with familiy and friends. I felt immediately supported and affirmed, and felt great being who I am. There was no pretending, I could be as dorky aor as silly or as un PC as I wanted to be, which felt great. Being cheerlead for those couple of weeks was incredibly invigorating and motivating. It was hard to leave, but it also gave me new wind in coming back here, and will make the next eight months fly by.
And here are some pics to better detail…
Since coming back I´ve done another camp... this time I collaborated with a bunch of colleagues across the country to have acamp for girls called GLOW ¨girls leading our world.¨ I brought two girls from my site who were by far the poorest and most rural looking. It was a lot of fun but a hell of a lot of work. I'm glad it's over.
It's winter here which means the creeks are full and waterfalls form. This is my family, from left: Yesica, Mari, and Sulma.
For a few days before I came back so San Diego, I spent a few days in Costa Rica with my parents. Here we are trying to look as cool as we can with those helmets. The volcano behind us is Arenal, still active. Costa Rica was beautiful, and the tourism is something I'd like to see more of in ES, for the very least it creates more economic opportunity. But it also felt like the WAL MART of Central America... very Americanized.
My happiest place on earth.
And of course, being happiest doing what I do best... being a complete dork with my friends.
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