I'm Back

So I apologise for not posting for so long. I guess I was a little busy with being on vacation and everything that came with that. So first off, it was great to see as many people and talk to as many people as I did. It's always nice to see that friends and family haven't forgotten about your existence just because you disappear into a little country in South America for a year and a half. And I'm sorry to everyone I didn't get a chance to see or really talk to. It turns out three weeks is not that long of a time.

But what a three weeks it was! I had a great time being back. Besides the joys of seeing friends a family, it was really nice just to be back in America. I like it down here in Guyana (contrary to what some of you might have heard... from me). But I'm not going to lie - America suits me a little more. I still have my beefs with the country... but not enough that I'm not settling there. And specifically, I mean San Francisco. I love my hometown. I could do a lot worse than putting down the roots in SF. What a great city!

Anyways, you can tell what's on my mind since I've been back. But surprisingly, it wasn't so bad to come back. As a lot of you guys know, two of my best Peace Corps friends who live near me left Guyana in the first week of my vacation. That was really hard to deal with, so I was worried that I would be a mess coming back. But in fact, I was fine coming back. I was almost looking forward to it, though partially in a "let's do this thing/I don't care how challenging this is/let's get it over with" kinda way. Also, there was a lot going on. The newest Peace Corps group swore in a few days ago and then left for their sites. There's going to be two newbies near me, which will be nice. They don't replace my old friends, but I'm happy to have some new people around me, considering I'm the only veteran in my region.

So it's been pretty good being back, considering all that has happened. I'm looking forward to settling in. I feel like I've been socializing for about a month straight now. I know I should complain about that, especially because of all the down time I've had here in Peace Corps. But that's precisely why it's so tiring - I'm used to naps every afternoon! Well, sort of. But I am used to a lot more alone time. After 17 months of being alone a lot, it's almost overwhelming to always be with people, always being engaged in conversation or whatever. So I'll be happy to fall back into my slow pace of life down here. It's strange being a Peace Corps volunteer - you're life becomes a mish-mash of complex emotions and desires that makes sense to us but few others. That's gotta be the main reason why coming back to America is so hard when you've finished your stint with Peace Corps. And why the returned Peace Corps community is so strong.

Anyways, enough blathering. I had a great vacation with you all. I miss you all. I miss my Peace Corps buddies who left too early. But I'm back and happy to be here. Let's do this last nine months.