Sleepless in Seattle

I realize that my blogs are not chronologically correct, but so what! Picture it. . .December, 2008. It was a hot day in Grenada and I was about to board the plane for my first visit home since joining the Peace Corps in July of 2007. My anxiety was high but so was my excitement about the endless Taco Bell double decker tacos I would be consuming in a matter of hours. The day of flying went smoothly but it was a trip I would like to avoid doing too often since it took about 22 hours for me to get from Grenada to Seattle. First, it was Grenada to Miami, then Miami to Chicago, and finally Chicago to Seattle. Not only was I exhausted but I almost got frostbite the minute my poor ankles felt the cold Chicago air. As I sat in the O'Hare airport in Chicago I watched as the snow fell and blanketed everything in the most beautiful and serene layer of white dust. Little did I know that this beautiful snow would turn out to be such a huge pain in the ass once I reached home.

Seattle is not a place that gets a ton of snow. But even so, if snow falls, the city overreacts and shuts everything down, while the media coins the 1 inch of snow as "Blizzard 2008" or some other equally over dramatic phrase. Then the next day the snow usually melts, the meteorologists are a little embarassed, and life goes back to normal. Well, of course I come home for a three week vacation, eager to spend time with the friends who I have missed more than I could've imagined, and it snows non-stop for about ten days. It doesn't melt, but it keeps compounding on top of the layers that are already there. . .which I suppose is how it usually works isn't it? Well anyway, I spent the first couple days of my "vacation" getting blisters from shoveling the driveway. Also, keep in mind that I hadn't driven a car for a year and a half and my parents were allowing me to borrow their ugly PT Cruiser. (Ugh, seriously, who designed that car and said, "Yes! This is a masterpiece!") Driving in snow was not really what I had in mind and of course my parents weren't too keen on my driving the car in snow and ice either, but I did anyway and fortunately I was accident free! Even though I was stuck at home for a few days it gave me the opportunity to spend quality time with my parents which I really enjoyed. Once the snow melted a bit I was nowhere to be found.

I expected my visit home to be a bit overwhelming since I had now adapted to the "simple life" of the Caribbean, but I fell right back into the swing of things as though I'd never left. I chowed down on some amazing mexican food, drank a lot of microbrews, and went out on the town with friends in Belltown. I ran into an old flame, (and unfortunately his girlfriend,) reconnected with friends I hadn't seen in years, made anatomically correct snowmen with mom, watched football with my dad, and spent a truly enjoyable Christmas Eve and Christmas with just my parents and I. I was even able to have a little piece of Grenada with me in Seattle due to the fact that my Grenadian friend/"it's complicated" Kerry was also in Seattle spending Christmas with a friend. All in all, I had a fantastic time and I realize how much I miss my friends and the social life I gave up to join the Peace Corps. Even so, by the end of week two, I was getting anxious to get back to my life in Grenada. Before I knew it, my vacation was finished and I returned to Grenada feeling newly inspired, refreshed, and truly happy to be back in swamp-ass weather conditions.