A Luxurious Christmas, Indeed

I must admit, it was so nice to go back home to Seattle for a couple of weeks for the Christmas break! When I first arrived it felt so surreal. Although I'd only been gone four months, I walked into my room thinking, "Whose room is this?" On my bed was a matching purple bathrobe and set of slippers from my parents, since I had told them it was a bit of an adjustment not having indoor heating in the winter months in Mexico.

At the Volunteer House we started an inside joke regarding 'feeling at home.' For some reason in the house we have a tiny stuffed animal koala holding an Australian flag (probably a gift from a past volunteer). While we were hanging out in the patio, an American volunteer picked it up and showed it to the Australian volunteer. "Doesn't this make you feel so at home?" she asked. The question was too absurd and hilarious to forget. From then onward whenever we saw someone walking down the street with a Manchester United jersey, or a shirt with the British flag or the Beatles, we'd say to Alice (the British volunteer), "Don't you feel so at home?" Or when Andreas saw Danish butter he said, "I feel so at home right now." Basically anything brazenly or tackily and obviously related to where you're from counts as making one feel 'at home.'

Boy, but when I was in Seattle didn't I feel just so at home--all the time!!! Whereas in Mexico I'm constantly learning about the way things are done, how to do/get things, where to get things... in Seattle everything was such a cake walk! I knew the bus routes, the best restaurants, where to get last-minute Christmas presents. It was such a breeze. And the nice thing, too, is that I don't think I was away long enough to really experience any reverse culture shock. I just couldn't stop marveling at how luxurious and fancy everything was, from public transportation to restaurants to cars...just everything! And to be back in a big city again (San Miguel de Allende has a population of ~70,000 people vs. Seattle's 3.9 million), it felt good.

Christmas dinner!

I am very thankful for the time I had to spend with friends and family. My parents took pretty much all of the two weeks off of work so that we could hang out, so we went to the gym together and spent a lot of nights watching some great movies (like 2Fast2Furious). I think it was just nice to be back with people that have known me for years, because it can get kind of tough to know people and also be known with volunteers coming and going from week to week or month to month.

Without fault with every new person I met up with in Seattle came the exclamation, "You look so tan!" "Yup, no seasonal affective disorder for me," I would reply jokingly. God be with you, sun-starved Seattlelites. I am sorry.

Although it was sad to leave Seattle and say goodbye to my family, it's been great to jump feet-first back into work here in Mexico. I received a warm welcome from Miguel (he and his son picked me up from the airport), Donna (she baked me cookies!) and the volunteers (Laura and Adi left me kind goodbye notes and Macklin made me a welcome back sign). It was great to see the teachers and Angelica (the mother who helps clean the Volunteer House) as well as the children, Aldo and Mari Chuy especially.

We've got 10 volunteers currently with another arriving this weekend! So it's definitely a party. Happy New Year to you all! Looking forward to seeing what 2014 has in store.