All Good Things Come to an End

We have landed on U.S. soil. As our departure date neared closer, we both found ourselves in a perfect state of contentment; sad to say goodbye but anxious to return to those we missed. It's hard to know whether these well balanced feelings were a result of the mental preparation that after 11 months of backpacking, our trip would be complete, or simply that the timing was perfect. Either way, we were both pleased that we simply felt ready. Micah's last blog took you through Sunday, which left us two days to soak up all the sun and Nica family that we could.

After Micah golfed 27 holes the previous day, we still had a pass with 5 rounds of 9 holes, challenging us to use them before we left. On Monday, I only managed 9 and Micah played a full 18. My game started well and by the end of the second hole, I was feeling pretty confident with how much I've improved this year. Then the next seven holes put me back in my place and although I did grow as a golfer this year, I remembered that I have a long ways to go. 

We ate a quick lunch before taking advantage of our last dip in the infinity pool, last sunset over the Pacific shores of Nicaragua, and last happy hour drinks. Angie and Kaiden joined us for a swim before heading home to make chicken enchiladas. Dinner was served and then packing began. The tricky tasks of wrapping bottles of rum in clothes, disguising cigars, and cushioning breakables was refined over the next few days as we continued to add items to our luggage and guesstimate the weight of our check-in bags.

Tuesday morning, Angie surprised me with a massage appointment at the resort. They have a masseuse on property with the perfect set-up: a massage table in a small palapa, opened towards the ocean. After my hour of relaxation, Micah and I confiscated Kaiden for our last beach adventure. We jumped in the waves, sat on the pieces of driftwood while imagining they were horses, and collected seashells. Our ulterior motive was to increase the bronze of our skin so as to look like we've spent the past year living on the beaches of Central America.

                                               On a seashell scavenger hunt

We did our best to keep Kaiden awake for the afternoon, intermittently as we completed packing. Angie was able to leave work early so around 2:30, the adults were ready to head in to Managua in preparation for the early morning departure time the following day. We hugged and kissed Kaiden, promised to FaceTime often and visit again soon, meanwhile he picked his nose and wiped his boogars on us. 

               This is how he combs my hair

On our way to Managua, we had a detour at a local orphanage. A surfer who Angie knows through Gran Pacifica works there and offered to show us around. It was an uplifting experience, as my expectations were pretty low, never having visited an orphanage even in a developed country, let alone Nicaragua. The location of The Children of Destiny orphanage was beautiful, set on 50+ acres, half of which was undeveloped and the remaining land housed open fields for soccer, fruit trees, and tire swings. The only children we had a short interaction with were two infants, two months old each. The other children were playing among the trees when we drove up to the orphanage. This place is currently home to 19 children, nearly all under the age of 5. Most are taken out of abusive environments or are abandoned. We were told the children are placed relatively quickly, either with family members or adopted. The orphanage is run solely on donations and fundraising by a gal that owns it; it was a quick and powerful reminder of how much difference one person could make to many.

There was a last minute souvenir trip to the market before we found a hotel in Managua. The four of us wandered down the road to a Mexican restaurant for dinner and then unsuccessfully went in search of Churros, an appropriate dessert for our last night in Central America. We settled on banana splits, and then stopped in at a pharmacy on the walk home to pick up a two week supply of antibiotics (for $3.72), although we sincerely hope nothing will spring up once home to necessitate use of antibiotics. 

With a departure time of 8:40am, we arrived to the small, disorganized airport at 7am on Wednesday. We checked in one bag each, proudly weighing in at 49# and 46#. Hugs and a few tears later, we were through security and shortly after, aboard our plane. Our long travel day went smoothly, with a 4 hour layover in Atlanta and a rushed 50 minute layover in Seattle. Immigrations and Customs didn't even glance at Micah's Cuba stamps and weren't concerned that I had cigars in my suitcase (maybe because I fibbed and said they were from Nicaragua, so he didn't bother to look at them).

     Being American: drinking beer while eating a $12 hamburger and watching sports

                                                         Had to.

We were greeted at the Portland airport by Mark, Lucas, Tarah and chilly weather. Wrapped in our Mexican shawl and poncho, we collected our luggage and drove back to Papa Hoelter's. I wondered on the plane if I would feel claustrophobic amidst buildings more than two stories tall, or disheartened by all the consumerism around. I've had neither of these experiences yet, but as we drove home last night, there was a pleasant mix of awareness of the physical changes in Portland that had occurred in the past year, as if we'd been gone a long time, and the feeling that we never left.

Over the next few days and few weeks, our schedule feels full. We have Christmas parties, family get-togethers and birthday parties to attend. I have part time work lined up in Vancouver and Forest Grove for five weeks, beginning in one week. After that, we are unsure, although we have our hopes set on traveling the US for a bit while making a paycheck. Those plans will be finalized in time, and the thought of it makes me feel more comfortable with the idea of returning to a structured life, with a schedule and responsibilities. 

For now, we have a few things to do to return to normalcy, such as become owners of cell phones, pick up my car, etc. I look forward to figuring out what normalcy is over the next while. I continually asked Micah while we were traveling what changes stuck once he returned from his previous long backpacking trip: if it was difficult to spend $10 for a meal after spending $3 for the past year; if it was difficult to become so much more accessible to others because of cell phones and Internet; if it was as difficult to wake up to an alarm as I imagine it will be. Over the past 24 hours I've had to remind myself numerous times that it's safe to drink the water from the tap now and that it's ok to throw the toilet paper in the toilet.

Although I'm unsure when or how often, we will continue to post to this blog. We have a lot of pride in our little excel program that shows every penny we spent over the past 11 months, so that financial breakdown will result in a post in the next week or two. At times exhausting and overwhelming to write a blog, I'm thankful that we have a play-by-play to remind us of all the amazing experiences we had this year, and I'm grateful to our friends and family who have faithfully followed along.