Life has a funny way

Change is inevitable- exciting and scary. And seems to be the only “normal” in my life in the past 13 years.  Today I figured out that since leaving for college, I haven’t lived in one physical place for more than 2 years.  Guess I keep getting the 2-year itch and find the need to keep my parents guessing “what’s next”.  Since coming back from a whirlwind and wonderful trip home for Maggie’s wedding, many people asked me “is it weird to be back?”  They asked in both directions of the trip, when I was “home” and when I came back “home”.  My only response was “it’s weird, because it isn’t weird”.  Things back in California were as I remembered, except not.  My parent’s house is not the house I grew up in even though it’s all the same furniture rearranged in a new place, and my parents could not be happier there.  My brother and sister in law are the same, except now they are parents to a 15 month old son who is hands-down indisputably the cutest toddler that exists.  My friends are still as great as ever, except now they are getting married, having children, traveling, moving, living their dreams. Hell, I got to be in my childhood friend’s wedding, where my family was represented three generations deep (my mom played music, I was a bridesmaid, and George was a ring-bearer).  That’s pretty special. 

BUT I knew my stay was temporary, and I knew I was coming back to this other place I call “home”.  Coming back felt as normal as normal can be when you live somewhere so unlike anywhere you have ever lived, and impossible to explain to people back home.   Whenever I talk to people about my experiences living abroad (wow, now a plural statement- that’s cool), I always say that it should somehow be required and that it should be for at least a year.  Walking down the street now I feel like I fit in (as much as a tall gringa can), and I try my best not to look like a tourist, because I am not. Someone at the river the other day asked me “are you here traveling” and my answer was a confident “no, I live here”.  Even if it’s temporary, I live here. 

I am not sure where I am going with all this, except to say that I’m feeling quite contemplative today as I realize my 1 year anniversary is in 6 short weeks.  I decided, on my way home from work, that I need to soak it all in and really appreciate where I am because it will be over before I know it and the next change will come.  I've realized that I haven’t taken nearly as many pictures this year as I did during my year in Spain (which is ironic because I had one film SLR camera then, and now I have 3 digital devices), but this year has felt different.  In college, I knew it was only a year- long adventure with some studying sprinkled in (still not sure how I pulled that off), but this adventure is just as much about my professional development as it is personal growth with no particular plan once the year-contract is complete. I think I always knew at some point in my life I HAD to live in South America, and I wanted to feel like I live here, not just passing through. (Mom and Dad, it’s still your fault, ya know- had it not been for Olinder and my bilingual education, I probably wouldn't be here). 

So in my effort to “soak it in”, today I took the back streets home. One block up from the main street that’s paved with sidewalks and buses and taxis zipping up and down, I walked the gravel, uneven roads filled with chickens and potholes, unattended kids playing in the streets (which would never fly in the states), abandoned cars, wood shack homes, the central market teeming with life. I walked behind the bus terminal where diesel-spewing seemingly nearly broken-down buses come zipping around the corner. I walked along the river where corrugated metal roofed homes line the bank, asking to be swept away in the next rainstorm.  I took some pictures, but I mostly just held the camera in my pocket and did my best to instill it all in my memory bank.  

After a year here, things feel normal. But stepping outside of my usual routine for a moment and really taking a good look around me, and comparing it to the week spent home, nothing is normal. And that’s what makes it all meaningful. Not to be confused with easy, but definitely exciting, interesting, and worth the journey.   

Now, I’m sure your next question is going to be “so, what’s next?”  And for those of you who I haven’t seen or talked to recently… I don’t know! And that’s the beauty of it all.  Here I am, back where I was a year ago, not sure what exactly was ahead of me, and look where I ended up. Not bad at all.  So here’s hoping the next adventure is as good as this one has been.  

Click HERE for some pictures of life around Tena.