This is the end...sort of

More than two months after I left I've returned home. Well, I've been home for more than a week but I needed some time to relax and reflect a little. Where did my summer go? I find myself in the same spot, listening to the same CD when I started this blog. I'm not drinking any beer although I do have some I need to finish. Some things never change I guess.

Tomorrow I head back to school and start another journey. Senior year? I prefer to think of it as year four because, who knows, there could always be a year five. It's odd to think that for most of my summer I was in a foreign country. At first, it didn't even feel like it was different. Sure, everyone was speaking Spanish but I was kind of used to that. Sometimes I feel more at home when I don't know what people are saying. Reflection of my upbringing I suppose.

The real culture shock was when I got back. The Coke tastes different. Everything has cheese. I never have to worry if the restaurant will have what I want. Wal Mart has everything I need. There will be a public bathroom. The bathroom will be somewhat clean. There will be toliet paper. They will accept credit cards. I can use a $20. I don't need exact change.

...

I could go on but I think that covers most of it. I think my biggest mistake was going into Costco. If you don't know, Costco is kind of like Sam's Club. They sell everything in bulk. First, you need a membership to even walk into the place otherwise they make you sign in. They make sure to tell you since you're not a member that you can't buy anything. It didn't matter. I didn't have any money on me anyway! And even if I did why would I need to buy five lbs of cheese? Or how about six dozens of pens? I could stock my fridge for the apocalypse. It was the opposite of everything I had been exposed to.

I saw a lot on this trip. I see why people look down on America now. Before this trip I always thought shows like the Kardashians or Jersey Shore. Now, I somehow hate them more. I hate my own consumerism. I learned a lot this summer. Not just Spanish, but life lessons. There were so many one room shantys that I passed by or small villages where you could barely get any cell phone reception and Internet didn't exist. Most people would think "Man, how do people live like this?" but I felt the opposite. I couldn't help but to ask myself "Why aren't I living this way?"

My car, my iPod, my laptop, my desktop, my TV, I don't need these. I don't need any of this. Some people just wake up, they do their work, and they go back to sleep to do it all over again. They don't concern themselves with what other people are doing. They worry about what they have to do to continue living. I want to live more like that.

I fell in love with South America. Most people's reactions to me going to Ecuador were "Why would you go there?" or "They eat Guinea Pig there." Everyone thought I was going to the middle of nowhere and that it was a terribly dangerous place. It wasn't in the middle of nowhere and it was dangerous but not anymore dangerous than being in some parts of the states. It was a nice break from everything else that I was doing and, in many ways, it was much needed.

Tomorrow is the start of another journey. This summer has been non-stop traveling. I've been here for barely week and I have to leave again for awhile. I'm kind of excited. I guess. It's my 2nd/3rd year on staff and I'm looking forward to seeing most people again but I really just want to sit and breathe. I keep seeing people I haven't seen in awhile and in the next instant I have to say goodbye to them.

I better go to bed. I have to pack. Then drive. Then unpack. Same old Darren...same old Darren...