7-31-10
Right now, I’m dizzy with excitement, because in just two short days, I’ll be kissing the floor (as my friend Sam says) at the Newark Airport.
Alright, I probably won’t be literally kissing it. (For the sake of hygiene, I try not to kiss things in Newark.) But I’ll at least be bounding enthusiastically across it into my mother’s arms. I haven’t seen my family in six months – the last time I went that long without seeing them was when I was 17 years old and an exchange student in Australia. You’d think I’d be more of a grown-up now, but as it turns out, I need my mama as much at 25 years old as I did when I was 17.
Of course, the difference between then and now is that then, I was coming home for good, and now, I’ll only be home for 9 short days before I return to El Salvador. If I can make myself leave, that is. I was talking to Joanna on the phone, having are usual weekly venting, and I told her I was leaving soon for a visit to the States. She asked me, “How are you going to leave?” We both laughed a little bit, and then she said, “No, seriously – what’s your exit strategy here?”
Hmm. Excellent question. I’m not quite sure.
After thinking about it, I said, “I’ll have to have my parents hogtie me and throw me on the plane when the time comes. It’s the only way.” And it could very well be.
After 6 months of living in the campo of El Salvador, I’m SO ready to have hot showers, sleep in a bed that doesn’t require a mosquito net, and eat food that I haven’t cooked over a little two-burner stove. I’m ready to get in a car when I want to go somewhere, not an overcrowded bus filled to bursting with Salvadorans who stare at me like I’m wearing a codfish on my head. I’m ready to walk into a store or restaurant or hotel and know that I won’t have any problem communicating exactly what I need to the people who work there. I’m ready to speak some English. And more than anything – I’m ready to see my family.
And I only get a week of all this. Is it going to be enough? Will I be able to get on the plane to go back, knowing that this time, I’m returning to what’s now just routine life for me? Can I make myself go back to bucket baths and latrines and mosquito nets? To teaching health charlas? To barely understanding the people I’m surrounded by?
Probably.
I’ll have a few days of America withdrawal, I’m sure. But I’ll manage. After all, my home is beautiful, and the people who live here are caring and warm. They may not be my family, but they help fill a little of the void. While I’m home in the States, I’ll cherish my time with my family and loved ones – but when I come back to El Salvador, I’ll try to cherish my time here, too. My assignment is 26 months long – and I’ve already been here for 6 months. It’s passed in the blink of an eye, and the rest will no doubt pass just as quickly.
In the meantime…home sweet home, here I come!
