A Whole Year

As Matt Ladd so pleasantly reminded me, today marks 365 fateful days since I departed that magical place known as the USA. Add two if you want the number of days since I left home with nothing but two bags packed with hopes and dreams or rather clothes and bug spray.

As I sit here eating a bag of chopped mango drenched in hot sauce and salt an reading online manuals for MySQL, PHP and CSS I am struck by how much of my life hasn't changed, but so much has. What makes me Me is still all there and persisting no matter what surroundings I find myself in. You just can't seem to tear me away from computers and projects that involve them. So I find I am researching the possibility of implementing a database system to track the actions of a team of social promoters here, which would serve to modernize the Alcaldía and better understand the work the promoters are doing. Another project entirely, but somewhat related is the possibility of putting up a website for my municipality. (A schoolboy type dream has me designing the site, then asking them if they would like to host the database online so anyone could see what the promoters are doing.) So yeah, same old me, chugging away at learning new things on a computer, but this time it has real world applications.

Meantime everything else around me is different. I don't think I ever would have had mango as a mid-morning snack in the USA. Not that I didn't like mangos before, but they sort of seemed like a luxury before and were only available for a short time. Not to mention I bought my mango from a lady who walks around with a basket of fruit on her head and sells all manner of local fruits for a quarter. I wouldn't have tolerated my current living situation in the USA, but it has made for a fairly comfortable and regular existence for me here. I mean my backyard isn't fully enclosed, I can see the Police next door (and in turn they can see me) when I walk to my shower or bathroom or am out washing clothes. At first I was sure to be fully dressed, but I have given up caring. My landlord also makes use of my backyard for a sort of rotating storage area of his materials and for growing of whatever he sees fit, plus there are always workers coming and going, so the doors stay open. Really it doesn't get to me except occasionally when they use up all my toilet paper or soap, and the small fact that I can't just let my dog run around my yard ever. But occasionally if I am in a rush and leave my dishes out, I come back to a pile of clean and stacked stuff, so it has its perks. Plus I don't really have to clean up after my dog, since one of the workers always seems to do that. I mean Kaya always goes to the same place, so its not hard, but its nice have it done for you.

What do I miss and what don't I miss? Well I miss driving for sure. I could use a hot shower now and then. Strangely I could really use a Nacho Cheese Chalupa from Taco Bell. I am completely wanting for Thai food. A couch or some other large, comfortable place to relax would be a welcome change from plastic chairs. And a washer and dryer would be a godsend based on the endlessly growing pile of dirty, sweaty clothes. But I am glad to be away from the mad dash that is commuting and working (not that I was really doing either) in at least LA. I could be fine if I never saw another Starbucks. I am still glad I am not in school I enjoy being one of the tallest people around. I am enjoying not being surrounded on all sides by suburban sprawl. I didn't watch too much television as it was, but I am glad to only get a glimpse of it occasionally.

All in all it has been a long haul so far, but I don't regret it. Certainly I am looking forward to the day I can say I am a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, but mostly for the experience of redefining myself in the US and not really to rush out of here.