Readjusting Part II

People keep asking me how I feel about being back. The truth is I feel divided in half. It's great to be back with my family and friends here, and I miss my family and friends in Guatemala like mad. I didn't write "but I miss my family and friends in Guatemala" because the two feelings are equally strong and I feel split exactly in two. I don't know that that's a bad thing, but it's certainly disorienting at the moment.

Because I can't seem to quite capture the emotion in the abstract, the best the reporter in me can do is list some things that have caught my attention in my second week of adjusting to life in the land of the free:

• Being able to offer people access to wireless Internet in my home is not as impressive in the United States as it was in Guatemala.
• It hurts to not be able to speak/text Spanglish. "Hoy" is so much easier to write than "today." How do you capture the true essence of  "saber" and "confianza"?
• Coca-cola served in glass bottles is a rare and apparently very excited thing here. It took me a minute to figure out why everyone was so impressed when I was served it that way last weekend.
• My new favorite thing about the United States is the cash back option on debit purchases. It might very well be the absolute best part about living here.
• I should have waited longer before going through all my photos and videos. I've already made my mom and best friend sit through a 15-minute slideshow mostly of people they'll never meet.
• People in the U.S. have absolutely NO EXCUSE for littering. There are trash cans like every 15 feet in public, regular trash pick-up provided by the government and more often than not, municipal recycling programs. Seeing all the litter in Guatemala made me sad and frustrated. Seeing it here makes me angry.
• I love that I can run three times the distance without getting tired after going from living at 4,875 feet to 270 feet.
• I still expect people to stare and be curious about me when I go out in public, but no one ever does/is. They are also never surprised that I speak the local language.

That's all for now -- just a peak into what's going through my head on a daily basis. The job/grad school hunt is still on. I'm trying to decide between public health and non-profit management. Please weigh in if you have any insight.

Peace out,
Kristina