somewhere under the sky

i continue being back

i wasn't sure if i was going to continue this blog after returning from Ecuador, mainly because now life is boring. just kidding, life is what i make it but anyway i'll try to make it interesting with thoughts and opinions and questions. i think it's been a while since i've written.
when i got back i went straight to indiana to visit my sister. if i can publicly announce this, she's moving to hawaii, which when i first found this out, made me ecstatic because that means i get to visit. this past weekend i went to new york city to visit my very generous brother. i'm glad i had some time between getting back and going to nyc, because all those people and tall buildings were a bit of a shock. i really like nyc but that's because nyc is like a little world and i really like the world. for example, the store signs around my brother's neighborhood in Brooklyn are in Polish.
so i'm for the most part over being depressed. actually i was only depressed for a few days. and neither has "adjusting" been hard. adjusting is not the right word. because i know how to live this life-i've lived it for over 20 years so that's no problem. basically i just miss Ecuador. i miss my host family, i miss the people in the office at CEDEI, i miss the mountains, the fresh juice, i miss speaking spanish and eating soup everyday. so it's not that it's hard to adjust to life here, it's not at all, but i just miss Ecuador and would rather be there. not that there's beautiful, wonderful people up here like you. i love you.
did you know that in the united states, each person has a lot of space? it's true. well it's true for the middle to upper class at least. so i mean the suburbs, which is most of what the united states is. can you imagine an entire apartment for one single person? this amazes me. one person has their own kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and probably a living room. all for ONE person. imagine. i think this is part of our rugged individualism. people talk at a distance and live at a distance and assert themselves as individuals, this is ME, this who i am and this ME deserves at least 100 square footage all to itSELF. or maybe that's just the way life is-the privileged get space and the poor don't.
this is something i've noticed since being back. not that everyone in ecuador is poor or lives 8 people in a 2-bedroom house. but an apartment to yourself is not the norm. kids live at home until they get married, generally speaking. as an example, my 22 yr old sister, 27 yr old brother, and 29 yr old sister all live at home. and the older two have (very) full time jobs. but it's perfectly acceptable that they live at home. here we are thrown out at 18 to fend for ourselves. i'm not complaining about this. actually the funny thing is that about all of this i'm hypocritical-i really enjoy travelling and being on my own (not that i don't love my family) but i still criticize this aspect of my society.
i'll be posting some pictures soon. i think i know how to do it...

posted by leah v @ 8:10 AM