The day before I headed to Managua to decompress and prepare for my early flight home at 5am. Ridiculous I know, but with all the layovers and time changes I still wouldn't get back to Brookfield until 9pm. Anyways, I lucked out because I hurt myself at my soccer game on Sunday and thought I broke my thumb. Whoops, of course something always has to happen, but as a plus I got my travel reimbursed and a free night at the hotel. I guess karma has a twisted way of delivering. The whole day of flying home was a blur. It was a mixture of lack of sleep, adreneline, and anxiety of what to expect about what to see. The biggest surprise happened when I got to Miami... the price of everything. A banana is 5cents in my town, do you know how much it was in Miami, $1.39; that is absolutely absurd. I wanted a beer, $6 right there and that is not even including tip. Well to make a long story short I did not eat a single thing because I was way too shocked to spend money on things that would cost me less than a dollar. Once I was in JFK I was met by my dad which was amazing. I went running to him. It was quite a contrast to how we were meeting. I was coming back from a poverty stricken town while he was coming back from a two day trip in Scotland after playing a round of golf at the 2011 Ryder's Cup course. Anyways, we got a ride home from his driver and just to top it all off I had my mom and sister waiting for me at the house with a wonderful Italian dinner warming up in the oven.
In typical fashion, I was not going to take this vacation lying down. While most people would approach their time back in the United States as a time to relax, catch up on sleep, see a few friends, I saw it as a sprint to get as much done as possible. I set the pace right by waking up at 6am the next day or 4am my time to go for a nice little bike ride. Well I kept saying one more corner or one more mile and it quickly turned into a 26mile ride... whoops. Oh well, it was a good to get in some good miles and I had a sense of accomplishment by 8am and could take on the rest of the day.
After my morning ride I was off to Hartford to meet up with my old boss Rachael who is a RPCV. It was great catching up with her, sharing my experiences, and knowing that most of what I am going through is common and that I am at the hump... it is all down hill now. The biggest part of the day was Alex and Melina's wedding rehearsal at the church. It was beautiful to see the family, Al and Mel's friends and my grandpa's brother who came all the way from Texas. We had an amazing dinner out in Hartford and it gave me time to catch up with lots of my cousins and friends who I haven't talked to for the last year.
So far it seems like more or less a normal trip back to the States. I had been back in country for 24hrs and had already traveled up to Hartford, did some biking, and saw family and friends. I had to keep my trend going and was off the next day early for NYC. I was meeting up with Stella and her family on the upper westside. Her aunt and uncle lived around 96th street and Stella's mom flew over from Ohio to see her. It was a great day because I finally got to meet more of her family. Besides her family in the city her other aunts and uncles were visiting from Indiana and we even drove out to the Palisades to see her grandma. I guess it was about time because Stella has already met all of my family including everyone in Colombia. Her family is so nice and so caring. We celebrated the Jewish holiday which commemorated the 40 years in the desert and had a wonderful breakfast of bagels, lox, and fruit outside in a park. True, I didn't try to out due myself by then running down to Times Square or going around 5th Ave, but we did all go for a nice walk around Central Park and seeing Strawberry Fields.
Saturday! Al and Melina's wedding. Where did all the time go? I had been in country for two days already and the wedding had already come. The morning was a mad rush of getting ready and I made it worse by taking my dad's car out for a ride and figuring I had time to go to Bart's house. I don't have much experience driving stick, ie about once before, and I did pretty well. I didn't stall, I was able to start from a stop on any hill and got the car going pretty fast... but within reason. Well let was a mad rush getting ready for the wedding and to make it worse when we finally were off and ready Stella and I were the first to arrive at the church with my sister and Deakin coming in right behind. We figured we were still about 40 minutes early so what better than to head down the street to our favorite pizza place, First & Last. We barely made it, my dad was frantically calling and we made up some lie about how we headed down the street to fill up the cars. Oh well, it was exciting and the plus was my cousin Will came to meet up with us, but promptly left because he forgot the dress for his daughter.
Alright, the whole reason I came back to the States... the wedding. It was beautiful, I can see why it took Melina a whole year to plan the event. Everything was absolutely perfect. Yes, we just showed up in the nick of time, but everyone was dressed to the t and I got to catch a few glimpse of all the relatives I haven't seen in ages. I was ecstatic running around smiling at everyone and trying to spend as much time as possible with everyone. The mass itself and service went off without a hitch. I had my 5 seconds of fame reading doing a reading in front of everyone. Frank was the best man and the priest was gave a wonderful sermon about what to expect and the mysteries of marriage.
The next part of the wedding was the fun part. Well the whole process was fun, but this was the big deal... the reception. It was at the Bond Room in Hartford and was on the 11th floor with a view of the entire city. I don't know how it was possible, but again I was one of the last ones to show up and we lucked out because my parents got all of us rooms at the hotel. We had a stellar table with the six of us, Will and Lyn, and Lil Will with his family. Given, I didn't spend too much time at the table, I did my best to mingle in with everyone but found that I didn't gravitate too far from my corner of the room or I was either at the bar. I know what you are all thinking, I was no lush. I was in fact getting drinks either for my sister or Ryan most of the time and just found a way of getting into conversations that always gravitated around alcohol. Oh well, I made the most of it and the biggest surprise of the night was that on each table was a card announcing my Peace Corps service. Mel prepared a whole flattering explanation of my experience in Nicaragua and announced that they were making a donation to the program.
The night carried on with plenty of dancing, reminiscing of stories and just forgetting that most of us have not seen each other in years. Stella made a good description, she said we were an Italian family, but just latin. It is true, we are a big family, and everyone regardless of distance tries to stay close. It didn't matter that I had not seen one of my Mom's uncles since I was about 5, but it didn't matter we picked right back up. Deakin, Sa's boyfriend, was a huge hit and spent the whole night dancing with Lyn, Uncle Will's fiancée... yes you heard right. It is about damn time! Everything about the evening was perfect, no drunken mistakes, no embarrassing moments, beautiful pictures, perfect company, and great food.
Yep, definitely happened. I also remember the bouncers slowly closing in on us like circling voltures. To make a long story short, two of our group got kicked out and Alex and Melina made their escape long before the scene got too ugly. I quickly followed suit and it was probably a smart idea because the next morning at breakfast I heard about how my cousin somehow ended up buying more drinks and went somewhere to buy a large pizza at an unknown hour in Hartford.
Oh well, that is behind us and now I had to continue my trip up to Boston. It was Sunday and I had to meet up with Amber, her boyfriend Chris, and my friend Michelle to go apple picking. Stella was with me and we all met up in Davis to head off to rural MA to get some apples. It was a perfect New England day. The weather had dropped to the upper 60's and the farm was packed with families. Sadly we did not have time to go for a hay ride, but this place was amazing. The trees were huge and filled with apples, we had to use ladders to get most of them. Chris is amazing and he was grabbing apples and carving faces into most of them to hide in the trees for following people. It was a quick visit, but I hadn't seen Michelle for over a year and it was amazing to catch up. Sadly we had to drop her off at South Station to head back to NYC, but my night with Amber, Chris, and Stella was just kicking off. We were out to go get Indian and it kept getting better with us meeting up with Dan, Chas, John, and Jason. It was a great dinner and afterwards we headed out into Davis for a few drinks and to meet up with Dan.
I promise I will look at this entry in the future and will update this I swear. I am getting tired and am just too drained from traveling and readjusting to the culture. Here is a shot of the stud, Dan Hall, in his ranger gear at the Shipyard on my last day up in Boston. It was like everything way too quick. For those of you keeping track this picture was taken Monday and I had gone from NYC, to the wedding, to apple picking, and now to Boston. I was finally hitting the wall and was on borderline exhaustion.
All in all it was a great trip. Would I do all this again... eh. I mean, I loved it all and I am so glad that I got to see everyone, but I am not sure I agree with doing it all in such a short period of time. I literally got myself sick moving around so much. While it may have been the corned beef hash I ate the day before I left, but I swear I had beaten my immune system down from lack of sleep. Everyone was so wonderful and there are plenty of perks with my crazy schedule. It is also comforting to know how much has stayed the same in the last year. On the day before I left I headed off to Bart's house to see him and Carolyn and within five minutes it felt like any normal night. I had never been to his house, yet we become accustomed to the comfortable and I felt like I was just gone for a week. It helps me think that it won't be so bad readjusting to life when I finish my Peace Corps service.
Thank you everyone for finding time to see me and being so hospitable. Congratulations to Alex and Melina for the most perfect wedding. It was beautiful and I can't thank you enough for such a considerate message on everyone's tables. Only one more year to go and I will be home for good. I can't wait to see you all again in December for Christmas and this time I am taking it a bit slower.
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