Hi everyone!

Well, I’m back in the good ol’ US of A, what a strange contrast of realities that is! Flags and manicured lawns, everything sanitized and lawsuit-proof, no street dogs waiting for scraps, toilet paper in all the bathrooms, motorists waiting patiently for a pedestrian in the crosswalk, dumpsters overflowing with almost-perfect produce. I’d forgotten how easy it is to communicate when everyone speaks English. And nobody stares at me here, I blend right in! I’d forgotten what that was like.

But I went into a Mexican grocery store/taqueria the other day and felt so at home and nostalgic, speaking Spanish and buying masa, listening to the now-so-familiar music, and explaining that yes, vegetarian does mean without meat. I really hope to go back next winter.

It’s been a whirlwind since I got here, a day here, a day there… LA, Phoenix, Santa Fe, San Francisco, Santa Cruz. Whew. I can’t wait to stay in one place for a while. But I won’t be doing that until I reach the Arctic Circle on Solstice, where I’ll bask in the midnight sun and watch el sol make its 24-hour circle around the sky. I’m ready for some serious time in the wilderness, and Alaska sounds perfect. And I hear there’s a lot of work there this time of the year. I’ve never been there. Let me know if you have any recommendations.

There are so many crazy stories from my last few weeks in Central America. I don’t know where to start, what to leave out… the wild boar attack…getting hit by a truck… premonitions… knife threats at the dinner table…illegal border hopping… getting adopted by evangelical Nicaraguans in San Jose… losing my passport and getting stuck in Costa Rica…

Funny how much harder it gets to write once you’re far away in a different country. Maybe we’ll just have to share stories in person. Or maybe I’ll write some of them later. I’m heading north now, but unfortunately the guy who’s driving me to Seattle doesn’t have much time to get there, so I’ll only have Saturday in Arcata. Ironically, there’s no one on the front desk shift at the Center, so maybe you’ll find me there. If you want to hang out sometime between Friday night and Sunday morning, send me an email.

Love

asha