When I got on the plane for Peace Corps Staging in February of last year I thought I would not see my family, friends and dog for at least the next two years and three months. Lucky for me Dad travels a lot and he had accumulated enough frequent flier to fly me home for a visit. I boarded a plane in Asuncion on Monday morning and arrived in Buenos Aires a couple of hours later. After a long layover in BA I got on an overnight flight to Atlanta. On my flight to BA from Miami as I was about to start my PC service most of the service was conducted in Spanish and I could barely understand a word, on this flight I spent the entire time conversing in Spanish with an Argentine headed for LA. What a difference a year and a half makes!
After landing in Atlanta I was quickly overwhelmed with the hustle and bustle of the airport, but being the good American girl that I am I got right in line at the Starbucks to start putting my money back into the economy, or maybe it was because its been a really long time since I had a Skinny Vanilla Latte! On the flight from Atlanta to Cleveland I had the pleasure of meeting a group who was returning from some missionary work in Ecuador. It was great to meet people who took some from their lives to help others. Unfortunately I also felt like they were very self-righteous and self-deserving. I am sorry but just because you spent ten days in Ecuador doesn´t give you the right to be a bitch to the flight attendant.
Another thing I immediately noticed on my arrival into Cleveland was that most of the service people with whom I spoke were unfriendly and did not appear to be happy that they are not amongst the millions who have recently lost their jobs. This seemed to be a common theme during my trip, so much so that when I went to a CVS in Bloomington, Indiana around 11 pm and the girl was super-friendly I almost hugged her! But the lack of friendliness is probably my only complaint from my trip and luckily it didn´t seem to be highly contagious.
Tuesday night, the night of my arrival, was definitely an exciting time! After a great Mexican-American lunch with Dad, Erin, Lauren, and Andrew, and a pedicure at Ladies and Gentlemen, I met my nephew Alexander for the first time and then proceeded to give my mom a huge surprise! Both she and Audra had no idea I would be home. For the big surprise my sisters, aunts and grandma planned a Ladies´ night in. And while they were preparing dinner I rang the doorbell. After complaining that she had to get up to answer the door my mom got a shock and immediately started crying and I think within a few moments there were very few dry eyes in the house, maybe Jay and Andrew. Nick had the pleasure of driving Audra around for awhile making random excuses and not telling her where they were going before they arrived for her surprise. It all went really well and I am so thankful that no one spoiled the surprise.
The ten days that I was home flew by. Of course I wasn´t able to do everything that I would have liked, but I was able to do a lot! I was able to visit most everyone in the family and get to know Audrey and Alexander a little. I got to go to the Vintage Ohio Wine Festival and sample different wines from Ohio as well as eat some great fair good and buy gifts to take back to Paraguay. I saw my sister Lisa participate in a triathlon and then headed out to Bloomington, Indiana to check out Indiana University and try to start thinking about what I will be doing next year, as well as spend some QT with Dad. Audra and I went to Pickle Bill´s where I got to eat lake perch. Erin made an amazing salmon dinner. I met Lauren´s man. And I got to see an Indian´s game. Although there was little time for rest, I got in my fix of the USA.
I was also able to do some work while I was home. The third goal of Peace Corps is to broaden the understanding of foreign cultures at home. I took home with me many examples of traditional Paraguayan arts and culture. Including Ñanduti, Ao po´i, a hammock, filigrana jewelry and of course the unforgettable terere!
My trip home was wonderful and amazing, it helped me to understand what it is that I am missing, like my family and changes within it, and that most things really don’t change that much, it´ll all still be there when I get back. Thanks to everyone for a great time!
