USofA... Closer. Bigger. Faster. Cheaper.
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| Visiting the location of a scuffle, that led to Screech getting arrested |
I've been back in for a couple of weeks, after my visit back to the USofA... I would hardly call my time there a vacation because, although it was great to spend time with my family and friends, I found it the-opposite-of-relaxing. The first and most superficial reason why it was stressful: having a car. I greatly appreciate life without a car. My life in Quito offers reliable, affordable and frequent public transportation. The week after I got back from 'Merica, for example, I took two buses out to the Quito Zoo and two buses back-- costing me a total of $1.60 and less than five minutes of waiting for transportation. And the taxis are incredibly affordable too, if I am feeling fancy. Either way, I'm able to just sit back and enjoy the ride. Sooooo I know that at least my first two years I kept saying "I'm going to get a car," but that option is out of the window as long as I can help it. Driving a car is like riding a bike, except the car is more likely to kill you. I did struggle a lot with paying attention to my driving, let alone the other wackjobs on the road with me. Thank goodness the rental company didn't give me an Illinois license plate otherwise I probably wouldn't have made it out of Wisconsin alive.
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| Brewer Game with my Dad and Tina |
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| Brewer Game with great friends |
I noticed myself getting lost in a region of Wisconsin where I lived for nearly 29 years. I found myself being surprised at the vast spaces devoted to shopping and fast food, the pace of life and cars, and a number of other things that I don't particularly find "normal" anymore. Something that always messes me up is the difference in daylight hours. Ecuador, being on the equator (hence the name), has extremely predictable days-vs-nights. Going from this to a place where the sun rises before 6 AM and sets after 9 PM during the Summer disputed my sleep tremendously. The entire time I was trapped in a fog of lethargy. Something that definitely caught me off-guard is how the food and diet would affect me. Within no time at all, I began experiencing digestive issues (I am trying to keep this "clean" for those of you not comfortable with talking about pooping)... but this didn't stop me from getting my Taco Bell fix.
I found I was able to reflect a lot on myself and my relationships. Everything inevitably goes through periods of transformation. When I return back to Wisconsin in subsequent years, I will recognize more and more the changes that both myself and it have experienced over the calendar year. Each time I return, I will inevitably experience reverse-culture shock. The USofA State Department has a great resource for you to read to understand what I mean... the "challenges" are exceptionally relevant for me. It's because I do not have any intention on returning to a life in the States any time.
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| Appreciating what makes Wisconsin special, with Michelle |
Hence the title of this post. Everything in the USofA seems to be multiplying so that you do not have to travel as far to get your quick "meal" [how many McDonald's is enough?]. Portion sizes, homes and properties, and reactions to random events is reaching critical mass [Seriously, the largest soda you get at fast food in Ecuador is a USA medium]. Speed limits and the demand to accomplish as much in one day is exhausting [I drove under speed limit on the roads because I was not in a hurry and also was stressed about the rushing]. Prices are kind of amazing, but the quality might not be so great [when something breaks, you buy a replacement; whereas in Ecuador you get it repaired. And food is quite affordable if you do not care about the quality of nutrition]. I much rather prefer having the time to evaluate whether or not I need to have something.
Lion's Den Gorge Nature Reserve, Grafton, WI
Just an afternoon hike with Michelle!
Despite feeling out of place, my time was nice and I appreciated being able to spend time with my friends and family. While I did not see "everyone" or do "everything," I just enjoyed the quality time I got to spend with those I had an opportunity to see. If we did not get to reconnect, understand it was not on purpose... it's overwhelming to run around. A comment I received a handful of times is about my array of travels and adventures. Maybe I am just used to them being a regular feature of my life now, but honestly I am carrying out my mundane day-to-day most of the time. I go to work, cook dinner, run errands.
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| The dive shop I went through to experience Lake Michigan! |
In future visits, I will be taking a different approach. Rather than keeping my schedule generally open, I am going to spend a couple of days around MKE and then get out for the rest. This trip helped me to understand my values a lot better. I want to learn, grow and challenge myself. Unfortunately, I had a clouded-mind and couldn't stay organized so I did not get photos or video from my dive in Lake Michigan... but I want to gain a better understanding of where I came from. Sooooo, time permitting, I want to spend my next visit camping and diving through Wisconsin and satiate my value of learning. You all better get ready for a tiny window of opportunity to see me, or plan on making a trip to visit me. However, as I realized with my time with Anne and Ande's visit this past week, there are some aspects of life here that do not phase me and made me realize the extent that culture shock can affect people when they come here, but that's for my next post.
As an additional bonus, here are a couple of day trips I made in the time between returning from the States and when friends came to visit. I wanted to scout sites for potential field trips in the upcoming school year. I'll end up sharing these with my students but for now enjoy my travel-away-from-home videos from around Quito:
Botanical Garden in Quito
Quito Zoo in Guayllabamba
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