Adios America, otra vez

These past three weeks at home have been nothing short of magical. I head back to El Salvador at 3:30 a.m. tomorrow, leaving from Reagan National Airport, which is a HUGE deja vu...our training group flew into ES for the first time from National at 3 a.m. more than 15 months ago.

There were so many great things about this vacation: seeing all my friends, going out in D.C., hanging out at home with TV and Internet in 18 inches of snow. And it's really put my experiences in the Peace Corps in perspective. Sometimes it's really tough, but I will come back to America in November that much stronger, and I will always my have fantastic friends here, and hopefully a job that I love.

At the end of my last trip to the States, I didn't want to go back to El Salvador. Thankfully, I don't feel that way now. I'm really excited to go back and finish up a million projects I've been planning. While I've been here, the Peace Corps approved my rather expensive proposal to build 50 fuel-efficient stoves in my community! I'm super stoked about that especially. But I am dreading the relative loneliness of the Peace Corps. The hardest thing about being there is no longer the dirt and bugs and lack of amenities. The hardest thing is not being surrounded daily by good friends.

We'll see what happens. I've also been compiling a list in my mind of things I found strange upon returning to America:

• EVERYONE has an iPhone or a BlackBerry now. When I left, only rich and important people had them. Now I wouldn't be surprised to see a homeless guy on the street with one.
• I used to be a guru of pop culture knowledge. Now I don't know what any of these TV shows or who any of these pop stars are. The most ridiculous one is Justin Bieber, the latest in a long line of prepubescent boy singers I thought were girls the first time I heard them on the radio.
• Speaking of the radio, I sometimes complain about the lack of variety in the Salvadoran radio repertoire...but America is much worse. I swear it's worse even than when I left. The local top 40 station (Hot 99.5, for you DC natives) literally plays the same 5 songs over and over.
• THINGS COST SO MUCH! The money I spend on a coffee or a beer could feed me for a whole day in El Salvador.
• A ton of new restaraunts opened up in DC.
• Almost everyone I know is now engaged or married. WTF.

And a few things that were surprisingly the same...

• I remembered how to drive and how to get everywhere in DC and Maryland.
• I fell very quickly into my old news-junkie ways and was discussing news, the funny articles of the day and media industry gossip as soon as I got home.
• The people I worked with at the college paper still get together and gossip endlessly...thank God! Same with my high school friends.
• I apparently cannot go home for a single break without hanging out at the Barnes & Noble where I used to work. I actually tried to avoid it this time and ended up there three times.

My next post will be from El Salvador! Paz y amor!