Coming Home

Well, I'm back in the States! And it honestly feels a little weird. Here's how the last couple days have been.

Sunday began with a quiet few hours at home with my family to eat lunch and spend some time together. After going to town to gather a few things to take back to the States, Katherine, Beatriz, and I headed up to Bromelias for strike. After being there and not really having much to do, Lisa sent me to La Colina, a hotel that we used for our cast party, with "Video Erin," another Canadian volunteer who came down to Costa Rica to make a documentary for Far Corners. When we got to La Colina, I did a quick interview for Erin and talked about my background and what I'm all about, my take on Oliver!, and what Far Corners means to me and what I think it can do for others. It was actually a really fun interview to do because it allowed me to reflect on my experience and on the show while also putting my thoughts into words eloquent enough for a camera.

After the interview I went back upstairs and waited for the party to start. During the cast party we all signed each other's programs, publicity posters, and ate a lot of food. Plus we watched the video from Saturday night's performance together, which was super fun. It was extremely sad, though, because I had to say goodbye to everyone at the end of the party. It was so sad saying goodbye, particularly to Katherine and Dario, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to get to see them again relatively soon - we're talking about them taking a little road trip to Santa Clara over Katherine's spring break! And if that doesn't happen, I'm fairly certain I'll be going back to Costa Rica next summer. After that tearful goodbye, I walked the hour-long commute back to Cementerio to go home. Honestly the walk was good; it gave me some space to get myself put back together a little bit. When I got home I finished packing and then went to bed in good Tico fashion at 9:30.

The next morning I got up at 4:30, got ready, and had my last breakfast of fried plantains and coffee before saying goodbye to my family. At about 6:10 I got in a taxi with all my stuff and got to the bus stop. The bus from Monteverde to San Jose takes about four hours, so I made it to the airport by 10:30. I got through security just fine and bought a couple books - one in English, one in Spanish - to occupy myself until my plane left at about 2:00. I had about a two hour layover in Miami before getting to Texas, and everything went just about according to plan. I got back home at a little after midnight.

My homecoming did not go according to plan, however.

Because four of my best friends popped out from behind a corner and scared me half to death when I walked in the door! The last thing I expected was for Zeke, Brittany, Kellie, and Jillian to be poised and ready to pounce when I came home, but nothing could have made me happier! So instead of going to bed immediately when I got home as I had hoped to do, I stayed up until I had been awake for literally 24 hours hanging out with them and catching up. I love them so much!

Well, I suppose this concludes my blog! Thanks for following along and keeping up with me these last couple of months while I was in Central America! I had a blast and am so happy I went. Can't wait until next year! :)