The Long Way Home

Today’s the day… I’m coming home. I’m writing this in Mexico… but this afternoon I’ll be in US… HOME, with my family. I think I’ll keep this one fairly short… and I’ll probably only have one more entry before finishing this blog.
For the past two weeks I’ve been slowly making my way back to the States via Guatemala and Mexico. Traveling has been wonderful… there is a lot of beauty and diversity and lavishness in Guatemala and especially in Mexico which El Salvador simply doesn’t have.
And while I’ve been enjoying this trip and am seeing places I never would have dreamed of some two plus years ago… I feel as if I’m in a little bit of limbo too. El Salvador doesn’t feel that far behind… and home… still feels far away.
It’s probably going to be an intricate, and slow process to fully readjust. Just being here in Mexico with my uncle has started to show me that. I’ve had a lot of fun with him, but I also feel a little more detached. What I think I’m discovering… and we’ll see when I get home… is that the materialism, the superficiality, the wealth… that’s probably not going to be too overwhelming to readjust too. I’m sure picking out cereal in a grocery store will still be intense. But it’s the interpersonal… the relationships… people… connecting with people who at one instance know so much about me and so little too… that is what I feel will be the most difficult. I’ve lost quite a bit of relat-ability even with my closest friends and family…. And I might feel a bit lost coming back.
But of course, this is all presumptive and unsure. I think there will be so many lovely and fun moments ahead too. So let me quit complaining and add some commentary of my travels.
Guatemala:
I went to Lago de Atitlan, in the highlands. It’s completely gorgeous and rife with indigenous clusters. I stayed a night in a town in which the locals spoke a language that sounded like nothing I’ve ever heard of before. It was weird and exciting.
I went back to Antigua… which is so charming an unbelievable… we need a town like that in El Sal. But of course… its charm draws in several tourists, and fill it’s streets with gringos.
Mexico:
I met up with my Uncle Paul in Mexico City. Which is incredible. The architecture and the art and the life and the energy… it’s all intoxicating. We only spent two days there which wasn’t nearly enough. I have to go back someday and discover all of its beauties.
Then we flew over to San Jose del Cabo of Los Cabos of Baja. Beautifule beaches, incredible water. But holy cow is it resort town… and not to mention saturated with Americans. I kept feeling disoriented… so many white people and English being spoken. Other Mexicans call it “Gringlandia.” But many of them were nice and I can see why they’ve decided to go there. I really was craving some more morenos and más español by the end of it.
Now I’m leaving La Paz, which is on the gulf side up a bit north. Fewer gringos, more Mexicans, and a beautiful city…. Me gusta mucha. Paul and I traveled up to a beach with incredibly clear water and kayaked and snorkeled… it was a dream. Wonderful.
Something funny I’ve noticed though… as I’ve been coming North… I’ve been going to richer and richer places, finally ending up in the States. And of course, there’s an inverse relationship with kindness with richness. The people I’ve met are nice… but they aren’t Salvadorans.
I’ll add pictures later.
HOME:
Since writing that last part, I’ve just learned that my grandfather died. You know what… none of those silly complaints I had matter anymore. Now, I just want to go home and be with my family, that’s more important than anything right now. I love you Poppy.