reflection and decision

yesterday i went to sante fe de antioquia with a few friends, which is about an hour and a half outside of medellin. the town was adorable, with cobblestone roads and a gorgeous fountain in the center of town and little fruit stands and juice shops where the locals and weekend visitors just sit and pass the warm afternoon. it was so quaint, it even had a rather cinematic nostalgia moment where a bunch of kids ran out of a candy shop laughing and skipping right past us as we walked in that direction. we also then made our way to san antonio, another small town about an hour outside of medallo but in the OTHER direction. this town was quaint as well, particularly at night when all these sweets vendors gathered in the middle of town to sell some of the most delicious candy and chocolate dipped fruit ever made.

experiencing these places was fantastic, but honestly the most revealing part of the day for me was our time spent in the car. as we pulled out onto ave. regional at 1030am i felt a feeling of calm and belonging, like the kind i feel when in the car with the fam heading toward home after a family gathering in long island (i dont feel that calm when heading TOWARD long island bc the mr. hyde side of my mother dominates and the rest of us spend the rest of the car ride ready for defense). though i went to foreign places, nothing felt foreign. everything felt comfortable. i definitely have my moments when im like "holy fuck i definitely feel like im in colombia", but those moments arent as frequent as these ones of comfort and normalcy.

im starting my english lessons for the staff of CINDE this week, which is just the cherry on the sundae for me :) over the past month ive realized im not an office worker. i cant sit in front of the computer and whip out excel spread sheets all day. i need to be moving around, interacting, and creating. from the past week of preparing for these english classes ive realized teaching gives me all that, and though i dont regret my traineeship at CINDE, ill be pursuing teaching come january rather than extend my traineeship here. on top of that ill be taking classes at one of the university's here in medallo in drafting and design so that i can really start creating some cool shit upon my return to the states in 2009 (10? 11?).

yay for making constructive life choices!