Coming home and coming back

Drew and I are coming home to visit in about 4 days.

The week before my trip home has helped me remember how different living here really is from the states.

For example, the last two weeks, our water has been unreliable. I have taken a real shower twice in the last two weeks, the rest of the days I showered with a bucket and cold water. I have found, you just don’t get as clean…..all I could think about was a warm, two knob (one for hot and cold, not just one generic one), pressurized showerhead that I will use at least once a day every day I am home in the states for two weeks. And, washing dishes with warm water, being able to flush any hour of the day…ahh such luxuries. It was okay when we just had water during the day and not the night, but when the water stopped working as much during the day, things get a little rougher. Our pila(cement water tank) to store water for times when we don’t have it, is one of the smallest ones I have ever seen in Honduras. So, it doesn’t help out as much as it should….when we say water is life (agua is vida) it means more to me now than it did in the past.
This last week, (Drew) and I have been trying to catch up on laundry. As I was getting a bucket ready with bleach and detergent, I took a good look at our white socks. Well, I first noticed that they just aren’t that white anymore. They look a bit worn. (sarcasm) And some of the dirt stains won’t bleach out. Thank God they will soon be replaced by bags of new fluffy white cotton ones from some store in the states. Drew and I favorite jeans are past that “cool” worn in look and will go in the trash once they are replaced, or used in some recycling project. Drew’s clothes all hang off of him since his “Honduras weight loss program” and my shoes have been tested by mountainy dirt and cobblestone roads.

I was walking to work today and passed about 4 street dogs, a horse randomly tied up near the side of the road, a guy on a horse with a big bag of rice headed up the mountain, and kids playing in the park because the Honduras teachers are again on strike and classes are cancelled for today. The park though was in bloom as always, as if it is always constantly Spring in Valle de Angeles. Only here does that seem normal. In a few days, I will be taking highways to get everywhere, see more stoplights than there are in the whole country of Honduras, and have convenience on every corner. No one lets their dogs roam free and I only see horses when you get way out in the country. They aren’t used as a form of transportation. All the cars will be about 5-10 years newer and the people at least 20-50 pounds bigger. I have to tell you, I love both countries. I look forward to being home, I look forward to sharing what I have learned here, and look forward to telling people about the states when I get back to Honduras. After all, two of our three goals in Peace Corps are to teach Honduras about American culture and to teach Americans about what life is like in another country. And in both places, life is good, life is different, life is interesting. And after the locura of a two week see-everyone-you-can-eat-tons-of-food-buy-clothes-do-familiy-stuff-etc I am sure I will be ready to come back to Honduras, which in a strangley comforting way has become my home.