Green mangoes

Apparently, I had forgotten what it was like to enter this country for the first time five months ago. This weekend, however, I lived those shock-moments all over again. With Jess and Kyle here, I was reminded that: WOW, taxi drivers do drive really fast. Beans and tortillas for every meal DOES get old. Waiting takes a LOT of patience. Blaring radio, roosters, and chicken vans make for a LOUD little city. We had a great visit though, and got a chance to stroll through the streets of colonial Valle de Angeles, Santa Lucia and San Juancito and hike through La Tigra National Park. Jess and Kyle came to Santa Clara and were swarmed by students delivering welcome notes, dragging them to the cancha for soccer and hand-slapping games. These could have been five overwhelming days for anyone else, but Jess and Kyle had a blast. I loved being around them, and was left with a bit of homesickness when they departed. Being around them made me miss home and friends and all of those other things that feel so comfortable to me.

It's mid-February and I'm sunburnt. I smell cattle everyday in my classroom. The air is getting drier and warmer everyday. My green mango, salt and chili habit is one I can't kick. I'm journaling so much these days I might as well be composing an autobiography. Where am I heading with this Central American chapter of life? I really don't know. All I can do is keep dancing down the street to whatever 80's music is blaring in the distance. "Wake me up before you go-go, Don't leave me hanging on like a yo-yo, Wake me up before you go-go, I don't want to miss it when you hit that high…."