Ah, Memories...

The background

Yesterday morning I woke up with that "uh-oh" feeling behind my eyes. Headache, body pain, feverish feeling. Tylenol. Better.

This morning, I work up at quarter to five to get ready for an event in the soccer field in my community. My ADESCO and I had plans to do a raffle. I traipsed around in the sun for several hours selling numbers for a fan. By the time I was done, I felt like shit. Oh, and I had a rash covering my whole body.

Now I am in San Salvador for what seems to be Dengue. It's really unpleasant.

Anyway. There are perks to being out sick. I have wireless internet, cable, air conditioning, and a pretty comfy bed... Let me get to the point.

With the access to wireless (and with it Skype, Facebook, e-mail) and cable that streams in US culture, it is almost like I am not in El Salvador anymore.

But the problem is that catching up with people back home, which I love to do, makes me nostalgic. When I get nostalgic...

I wonder what I would be doing now if I hadn't left Ashland in December and then Albany in February. I'm currently living in a permasummer, but in Oregon right now, the seasons are hesitantly pushing the mercury up the scale.

If I were still in Ashland, I would likely be on Allison Street. A place that I loved, a lot, despite the leaky fridge, the leaky shower and the leaky windows. I would probably still be dating around, and going out with Kelsey to The Creek, Alex's and Caldera. We would likely be having a really good time. But most of my other, old Ashland friends have flown the coop and I would be lacking them just like I do from El Salvador.

If, for some reason, I was in Albany still, I would have been around for the last events in my family's history. I wouldn't have missed the service for my grandfather, I would have been with my family. I would probably still have my car, all the stuff I sold, and I would have a need for my wool pea coats that I love so much.

But, as I was told by two wandering New Zealanders (or were they Australian?) while drinking big bottles of Corona on the beaches of Zihuatanejo, Mexico, in 2008, you need to see the world while you're young, your own country you can explore when your closer to settling down. As much as I love my own friends and family, I feel like I am creating a bigger network, and now I have friends and family here in El Salvador.

As I looked at the gnarly red rash that spans my body from my neck to my ankles, shaking my fist and cursing the day I moved to what feels like the hottest, most mosquito ridden place on earth, my phone rang. My friend, who is also my postman, called to check on me.

"Where are you, Yessi?"

--San Salvador.

"You don't plan on coming back tonight, right? It probably wouldn't be safe..."

--No, I should be back tomorrow, in the early afternoon.

"Ok, I just called because everyone was all worried... have a good night, take care of yourself."

And then I remember that I have friends and family here too, and when I leave, I'll very likely be missing El Cocalito and all of them just as I miss Oregon and everything I have back home.