The States

The past two weeks I was in the US for a little respite from the DR. I used some of my annual vacation leave in order to go home and see friends and family, and just to enjoy all the loveliness the States have to offer.

I was picked up at O'Hare airport after a little while thanks to my sister Lisa, even after a little bit of waiting due to some miscommunication, and my lack of a cell phone. For my first meal I chose Portillo's. But instead of getting a beef or hot dog, I opted for the chopped salad. I just really had a taste for it.

Some other highlights of the two weeks included seeing my sister, brother-in-law and their two kids after not seeing them for a year; a little reunion of friends and family the first Sunday I was home; hanging out at my friend Denise's new condo (thanks to her I'm able to be writing this post right now!); a Beck concert at the Aragon (the show itself wasn't that great, but hanging out was); visiting all my old coworkers at CBBEL and finally just enjoying all the great food and hot water that is available (also drinking water that comes out of the faucet).

I should have made a little scorecard for how many times I ate a hot dog, pizza or tacos. Those were pretty much my three main food groups for the trip. I just can't get a good hot dog in the DR like I can in the States, so I had to take advantage.

Things I'm going to miss about being home:
- Family and Friends
- Food
- Cleanliness and being clean
- Hot water
- Constant availability (and reliability) of internet (already during typing this post my internet connection has failed multiple times)
- Personal space

With all that said, I was sad to leave home, but I'm also happy to be back in the DR.