Afterward

After a wonderful trip to Colombia with my mom, I am finally home. It is weird/nice to know that this time, it’s not just for a visit. I don’t have to stuff my face with as much good food and take as many hot showers as possible in the next few days, because this is my life again for real.

I am feeling surprisingly happy and calm about the transition and being here. Maybe it’s because I’m still in the “honeymoon phase,” as they called it at our COS conference, when everyone is really excited to see me and it is such a novelty that I’m home, but I’ll take it. Some of the best things about being home so far include: variety of food options, not having to change my clothes three times a day because I’m sweating so much, hot showers, comfortable beds, getting to run/bike to the ocean on flat terrain, iPhones, and of course just hanging out at home with my family.

Some of the things I already miss about Costa Rica are: greeting all my neighbors when I walk down the street, speaking Spanish, not looking in the mirror before walking out the door and not caring, playdates with my PCV friends, hiking in the rainforest, the sound of the river outside my apartment and the Thursday farmer’s market.

The weirdest difference I’ve noticed between Costa Rica and the USA since I’ve been home: the quarters here seem really small compared to colones!

Anyways I am still processing my experience and what it meant to me, and it feels impossible to put down on paper or turn into an elevator speech when people ask, “How was the Peace Corps?”, although that is what I am having to do. One thing I wanted to mention is that I remember at my going away party (which I just watched on dvd with dad and Lynne last night for a recap), I felt so lucky to be so loved by so many people in Quebradas, and how hard that was going to be to leave. But I am also incredibly lucky to get to come home to so many people that love me and missed me and truly wanted to be part of and understand my experience in Costa Rica. I had TWENTY-FIVE visitors in two years, which seems like it must be some kind of record, and I think they all deserve a shout-out, in order of appearance: Dan(x4), dad(x3), Lynne(x2), Liza(x2, one being an extended stay), mom(x2), Caitlin, Ali, Joanie and Kimi, Aunt Didi, Uncle David and Alec, Nate, Claire and Eric, Katie Mckinstry, Andrew and Maddie, Aunt Carrie, Lisie, Jackie and Jared, Aunt Boo and Uncle Danny, and Ashley. You guys rock and it means so much to me that you all made the trip down.

Now I am starting to get excited about what’s ahead. After doing some more traveling to visit friends and family on the east coast and Italy (rough life, I know), I am going to spend six weeks straight in LA, the most I have been here since I left for college. I am hoping to find some volunteer project in which I can practice my Spanish, take some salsa dancing and cooking classes, join a soccer team, see lots of movies, and get my life generally organized.

And after much stress and internal and external debate, I finally decided that I will be doing my MBA at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, which starts on August 1. I am really excited to move up to northern California and to meet lots of new people excited about new ideas. I think my experience in Costa Rica will serve me un montón in my studies and future professional pursuits.

I am not going to keep blogging for now, as the main reason was to keep in touch with people at home and let you all know what I was up to without flooding your inboxes with mass emails. But thanks again for following my adventures. I have a feeling there will be more to come…