Headed Home from Home

Welp, after 12 days back in NY, here I am in the airport again, heading home from home. It's a weird thought, but I like it.

Being home for Christmas in NY after spending just about 16 months in Nicaragua didn't feel nearly as strange or foreign as I thought it might. Everyone always talks about reverse culture shock, so I had prepared myself for that feeling of being an outsider in my own country, but as I walked off my plane and saw my mom and family (thanks for the surprise pick-up Kim, Christie and Livi!) waiting for me in the airport, I knew I didn't have to worry about that.

These past few days have been a complete whirlwind of visits, holidays, and errands but even though I didn't have endless hours to spend with each of the people I've missed so much, the little time I spent with them showed me that no matter the time and distance between us, I can always come home to my amazing family and awesome friends like no time has passed at all. I felt like I hadn't even left!

Sure, some things have changed...marriages...breakups...new relationships...graduations...apartment changes...new jobs. I had to be introduced to dubstep and learned how to “Just Dance” on Wii. No one seems to be able to survive half an hour without internet access at their fingertips on their fancy touch screen phones...something that I've become so adjusted to living without. And there are seriously 3D TVs now?!? What?!? Other than little things like that though, nothing had really changed. I remember being really worried about that before heading out for Peace Corps. I was sure that everything would change during my two years away and that I'd come home and step into a brand new world where people had just moved on without me. Sure people's lives have gone on without me, but we've also kept in touch and I've found that the ties of family and real friendship can't be broken just by a few months apart.

I guess I've changed a lot too. Being home, I found myself questioning the need for giant houses with more rooms than people. I feel a little nauseous when I see the size of stores like Walmart and Target and wonder what happens to allllllll that stuff in the mall that could never be worn or used before the trends change again. I find the rampant consumerism both disheartening and disappointing. If people knew how much good they could do with just the money that they spend at Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks every month, maybe they'd think twice about their habits and just how much stuff they really need to have. Not to mention the environmental effects that come from such a subconscious dependency on drive-thru s and addictions to (fill in the blank with some mindless new “must-have”)s. I guess it's just that I've truly come to love the simpler life I live in Nicaragua. Waste is just not a part of daily life there, and I guess that's why it was so disgustingly noticeable for me back in the States. People in Belen live full and happy lives without their days being polluted by addictions to technology and information. Free time is spent talking with neighbors or visiting friends as opposed to sitting in front of a Facebook screen for hours or watching reality TV all day. People value hard work, yet they do not let it take over their lives. To quote a fellow Nica volunteer, “Time is different for them. Time isn't money. It's free and it's something they can give.” That seems to sum up perfectly one of the most noticeable differences between New York life and Nicaraguan life.

I found that even while enjoying the time I got to spend with my family and friends, so much of me wanted to cling to my Nicaraguan self. My friends from Belen were amazing and called me pretty much daily. As I was leaving Managua airport, I resented the fact that the flight attendant was speaking in English. Weren't we flying out of Central America? I used Spanish all the way home. Then for the rest of the week, I continued to jump at any opportunity to use it, which was pretty often since I live in New York. I realized immediately how useful my Spanish will be to me when I get back for good.

Well here's to an amazing few days at home, surrounded by the people I love most. It was beyond amazing getting to catch up, laugh about old inside jokes, share stories from the past year, and just soak up each others' presence.

Now that I'm just about back “home” in my little corner of Nicaragua, I plan to focus on making my second year even more productive and awesome than my first! I hope time doesn't fly too quickly, as I'm sure leaving here will be way harder than anything I've ever had to do in my life. Goals for my 2012 here in Nicaragua?

*Give all I can to the people in my town...both professionally and personally.

*Treasure every single day and live in the moment...remember that we only get one chance to live each day to the fullest.

one year in service blog to come...it's on my external hard drive and i unfortunately don't have that with me at the moment.