Winding down

I don't really know how many people read my blog.  I know I don't post very often.  I thought maybe I should explain why.  A lot of my life here in Venezuela has to do with my job.  And I don't think that it's appropriate to post anything but general information about my job for a lot of different reasons.  But sometimes my job consumes me and I have a hard time thinking of other things to write about.  Or I think the minutiae of my life are kind of boring.  So I just don't write anything at all.  I would LOVE to share some of the hilarious work-related stories of the last two years, but if you want to hear those, you'll have to ask me in person.

To be perfectly honest, life here isn't all that different than at home.  Yes, we are close to amazing Caribbean beaches and speak Spanish all day, but the daily tasks are pretty similar to anywhere else - go to work, shop for groceries, cook dinner, hang out with friends, change the oil, etc.

We are now less than three months from the date we will leave Venezuela.  I am not sure I am prepared to leave the FS friend group I have made here.  I always wonder if I will find people this wonderful, caring, and supportive at future posts.  There is always that lingering fear that I won't, although I know that's probably not a realistic concern.  I wonder if I will get lonely in DC.  I'm not the most social person on the planet, but I've become accustomed to regular time with a relatively fixed group of people here, and that just doesn't exist in my life in the U.S.  It really hasn't existed for me since college, but it is something I've enjoyed and relied on a great deal here in Caracas.  (Have I ever mentioned how many similarities FS life has to college life?  Mostly the good elements of college life.)

Despite my qualms about leaving, I am looking forward to going home and then to DC.  I now understand why home leave is mandatory.  It was only a couple months ago that I figured out that the wildly popular Glee was a musical TV show.  (I still haven't seen an episode, though, so if anyone happens to have the DVDs, I would be much obliged.  I'm a total sucker for song and dance shows.)  Home leave is government mandated precisely because some wise soul thought we might need to get in touch with our home culture again.  This person was right.  It's not like you ever lose your own culture, but in the process of adapting to living in a different culture, some facets of your own become dormant.

It will be nice to re-adapt to life in the U.S., if only for a short while.  I am especially looking forward to the following:

1. Seeing family and friends, especially for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
2. Winter (I know I will rue the day I wrote this, but my beloved Che will be so much healthier in the cold winter, and that will make me very happy).
3. Sour cream.
4. Being able to be out and about without being super-paranoid about crime.
5. Going to the grocery store late at night in sweats and a sweatshirt and finding everything I want there.
6. Cheddar cheese.
7. Trying on clothes and shoes in the store before purchasing instead of buying online.
8. Outstanding service at restaurants and in stores.
9. Fresh skim milk whenever I want it.
10. Not standing out wherever I go.

Soon to come: what I will miss most about Venezuela.