Pensamientos sobre la USA

In reflection on the trip to the USA, here are a few observations that stick out:

1. We loved wearing cold-weather clothes again! Scarfs, sweaters, turtlenecks ... I love the thick fabrics of fall and winter clothing. I definitely miss it in El Salvador.

2. I had forgotten how much choice there is in the US. We went to a Starbucks to get coffee and had the following conversation with John:

J: What do you want to order?
A: Just coffee. Plain.
J: But which coffee do you want?
A: What do you mean? I just want coffee.
J: But they have four types of coffee. House blend. Christmas blend. Vanilla-Hazelnut. And Decaf. Which one do you want?
A: Four types of coffee?? How am I supposed to know which one I want? I just want coffee!

The conversation devolved into an analysis of each type of coffee, their strengths and weaknesses, until I could decide which was the best option for me at that moment. In El Salvador, we don´t have that kind of selection so my decision-making skills are a bit weak.

3. It was a bit difficult to stop speaking spanish to people, especially waiters and other service providers. I always had to stop and remember to speak english. Or, say if someone crossed my path and said "excuse me," my spanish response ("Pase adelante.") would always come out before my english response.

4. I wanted cold weather and we got it. It was below zero a day or two in Cincinnati. Wow, that is COLD.

5. At our layover in Atlanta, I was in a trance watching all the people walking through the airport and the amazing diversity of clothing, races, hairstyles, etc. America is full of so much variety that I have missed. The most common denominator of everyone in the airport seemed to be the iPod that almost every person was carrying.

6. Our first couple nights of sleep were dreadful. We are not used to indoor heating. It felt like our respiratory systems and skin had been seriously dehydrated as a result. We adjusted to that after several days.

7. We missed our families a lot. It was great to see them and sad to leave them.

8. I was able to identify the Cleveland accent. It has always been difficult for me to hear, but it was clear as a bell our first few days there.

9. We got snow on one of our last days in Cleveland. It was a beautiful sight to see.

10. Indian food tastes as wonderful as the fantasy of it that I had stored in my head.

11. The only people I was able to speak spanish with in the US were two housekeepers in Boston´s Logan airport, who helped me with directions.

12. Wow, Ohio really is grey during the winter. We barely saw the sun. I never had to wear sunglasses. Coming back to El Salvador was a shock on the eyes.

13. There is significant value in places where people know you, know your history, speak your language, share your culture, etc. We could only have grown to appreciate how important this is by leaving it.

14. One of my first memories of El Salvador is of the smells of the airport, which were so new to me. This time, when we returned and entered the airport, I smelled nothing distinguishable -- a sign that we are accustomed to El Salvador.

15. Someone instantly recognized us in El Salvador´s airport when we returned. Our grocery store owners stopped their business to come give us welcome-back hugs. It is a small country. We like that.

Many thanks to everyone who helped to make our trip a wonderful and memorable one. We´ll be back sometime in 2009.