pina

i had my first shared cup of pineapple of the semester. it wasn't quite ripe, but taste aside, its good to be back.

manana

manana regreso a EEUU.

here is what i'm looking forward to:
vegetables. salad. real healthy food.
good non-yellow mustard.
real vegetarianism
putting toilet paper in the toilet.
not worrying about when the hot water's running out.
not worrying about the shower electrocuting me.
summer.
walking a block without steep uphill climbs
traffic that pays attention to lights
drinking water whenever i want
not worrying about if there's anyone home to let me in at night
cheaper cheese

here is what i will miss:
$1.50 glasses of wine at fancy french restaurants
saltenas
the luchadoras
the chilen@s
ramiro's thoughts about what i should be studying
scarf weather
el sol andino fuerte
the spirit of latin america
a good excuse for not replying to emails
comeraderie among gring@s
random people lying and saying my spanish is good
fresh $0.07 bread
living in SoHo-cachi
fireworks for no reason

i'm sure there's more for both lists. leaving is always a weird feeling. on one hand i want nothing more than to be back in the land of endless hot water, needless neoliberal regementation, and healthcare debates, but its hard to leave too. in a way, i'm very glad the chilen@s are leaving tomorrow too (though i'll miss the other 2). i guess i always just feel there's so much more to be done. i haven't cracked the surface. i don't really understand. i just have to remember that's not a failure, its just an appropriate end to round one.

now, off to buy some cheaply made tourist trap gifts.

P-farm

Total bummer, dude.
Here's why...

time to start learning arabic...

it seems female wrestlers in iraq are the new rage.
and i've only got about 7 minutes of my first luchadora interview transcribed. the work just keeps stacking up.