Not a day goes by that I don't think about something from the Dominican, the people, places and things I miss. Sometimes I forget that my friends are so far away. Take the other day for example, when I was standing at the bus stop waiting to catch a bus downtown and I saw a silver VW drive by, exactly like the one that Manuel owns. My first thought was, "oh, I wonder if that was Manuel," and then immediately my brain kicked in and reminded me that it was definitely not Manuel. I've had a few skype dates so far, but it still feels weird and horribly distant. Luckily, all of the various forms of communication we have are really handy. I finally got a blackberry again and I love being able to instantly send pictures in the moment to Ozumy and Maria showing them what I'm doing or seeing, and I love being able to receive pictures from them of those people, places and things that I miss so much.
At the same time, I have enjoyed a lot of what I love about home. Being able to see my family and friends on a regular basis, going to my favourite restaurants and other places in the city, wearing my favourite clothes and shoes, cooking, getting to feel cozy again - it is all so wonderful! I have even got to take in 2 Oilers' games since I got back, and even though we lost both of the games, it felt really good to be singing my national anthem, drinking Molson and cheering on my team!
Today, I started my new job, and because of that, it seemed fitting to write my last post that would wrap up the insane adventure that was this past year. Going to work today made reality set in. I'm back in Canada and here to stay (at least for the foreseeable future). So now, I just get to reminisce about all the crazy memories, both good and bad. Everything from eating green Mangos that Paula picked off a tree on our walk home, the day David lit the sink on fire to kill a centipede, having rats eating at our kitchen door, living in the princess room, relaxing on catamarans, eating beach food, breakfasts with Ozumy, Saturday afternoons with Maria, learning how to play Dominos, drinking at the colmado, power outages, explosions in the night, the pouring rain, the insanely hot sun, Orlando and I with our fry masks, Pavol making his own rum infusions in our fridge, looking out to sea on the Malecon with Andrew, videotaping the morning commute with Robert, Marola teaching and testing me and my Spanish over lunch, driving with Manuel, riding in carritos, chinola juice, mentoring Lostania, never understanding Yeimy when she spoke in her extremely quick Spanish, Sylvia's driving making me car sick, paragliding with Arturo and his friends, pilates with Mari, all those crazy Norwegians, prepping O for his move to Canada, teaching JCL English, all the laughs I shared with Sr. S and J, finding ways to communicate with L, learning I had a good friend in E, the girls at Sweet Bakery, Super Pola, lunches at the MC with Zak, rides to and from the airport with Don Pedro, Gerardo and 2 Pinocchios, eating at IKEA, the watchiman, the fruit vendors, to the slow internet, the ants, Marlon and Mariangeles' wedding, my mosquito net, moldy clothing and Zona Colonial. All of it. I wouldn't change a thing and will cherish all of these moments forever.
Gracias por todo! Abrazos y besos!
