Surprise! I'm Home!

I hadn't planned on going home during my two years in Peru because we have limited funds and limited vacation time as volunteers but as Christmas rolled around and one after the other of my friends started telling me of their plans to go back to that dreamland we in the Peace Corps refer to simply as AMERICA, I couldn't help but feel tempted to make the journey. I didn't think about it seriously until right around Thanksgiving when I mentioned casually to my dad that most of my friends were going home. I honestly wasn't fishing for an invitation, I was just stating that it surprised me how many were going back. We were chatting online, me in my office (Starbucks) and my dad in his chair and as soon as he offered to bring me home for Christmas tears started rolling down my face. Even now as I think back on it (again in Starbucks), my eyes get a little misty. I haven't been a big crier lately so I took this reaction to mean that I would really like to go home! My dad said "let me think about this overnight" and the next morning when I checked my email the subject heading of the email from my dad was "Lets do it!" we decided to keep it between us and thus set in motion the most exciting trick I have ever pulled off. The first step in our grand scheme to surprise the family was to enlist the help of a trusted person with a credit card my mom wouldn't be tracking. Grandma Betty was the perfect candidate and she kept our secret very well.

I arrived in Portland fresh from one-year medical checks so I knew that I wasn't bringing any mysterious parasites into the USA. I have somewhat of an iron gut so I haven't had any stomach problems yet which meant I was not as well versed in stool sample collection as some of my fellow Peace Corps Volunteers. Now I can say that I have my own strategy for collection and I can check one more thing off my bucket list (this whole reflection on pooping in a cup is probably an overshare but the Peace Corps has clouded my judgment on the line for bodily function talk). Anyway, without worms or cavities, I was ready to surprise the family. My dad dropped my mom at the Subaru dealership to wait for the car to get repaired and then said he had to pick up her gift. He came out to the airport, picked me up, and then we headed back to get my mom. When I walked in she was so engrossed in the quote that the mechanic had given her for the repairs that she didn't even look up before starting to read off to my dad how much it was going to cost. When she finished her list of prices she finally looked up to see me standing over her. She stared at me for a while and I awkwardly smiled waiting for her to smile/cry/hug me/get mad/respond in some way! Finally she jumped up and hugged me and we both let out a few tears of happiness. That was quite possibly my most exciting Christmas moment ever. That night I got to repeat the emotional embrace when we picked my sister up at the airport. My parents hid behind a post while I waited for my sister to walk up the ramp out of the secure area. I hadn't seen her in the full 15 months since I left and during that time she has turned 21, gotten engaged, turned 22, finished college, and is in the process of moving to Manhattan so I was pretty excited to catch up with her.

Over the next few days I got to surprise my entire family. Some reactions were very emotional while others were completely anticlimactic. A couple of my uncles assumed that they had been told that I would be there but just weren't paying attention at the time so they didn't seem surprised at all. All the reactions made me emotional and I just couldn't snap out of my state of extreme happiness at being home.

Aside from seeing family, my top priority while in the US was eating all the things that are either non-existent or unaffordable in Peru. This list included pub food, Mexican food, sushi, and Indian food. I ate everything except the Indian food and I was able to add a few more exciting things like Peruvian food. It was all delicious and the fact that there are now two Peruvian restaurants in Portland makes me be proud to be an honorary Peruvian. I can't wait to tell my Peruvian friends that their cuisine is now a trendy favorite in the U.S.

The most overwhelming food experience that I had while in the States was at Costco. I insisted on going with my mom and the experience turned out to be a shocking welcome home to AMERICA. At my house in Peru there is hardly ever extra food and we would never buy in bulk because we don't have a refrigerator and the mice and flies get into anything hanging around. The strangest thing about Costco was that I wanted everything but I couldn't quite comprehend buying that quantity. The first thing that I was drawn to was a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting topped with nuts. I have searched for an appetizing version of this particular desert since I have been here only to meet with dry cake, bizarre frosting, and other disappointments. The giant cake was only $12.99 so my first thought was "how can I not buy this?" My mom caught up to me and I was holding the cake, ready to put it in the cart but then I got overwhelmed at the thought of SO MUCH carrot cake and I said, "mom, do they have a smaller one?" She looked at me like I was ridiculous and reminded me, "Dani, we are at Costco." I returned the cake to repeat the exact same interaction with the muffins, bacon, cheeses, bagels, trail mix, and pretty much all the other treats in the store all the while trying every sample that I could get my hands on. When it was time to leave, I was nowhere to be found so my sister set out on a search only to find me staring at the 3 lb. pumpkin pies. I had been craving pumpkin pie since Thanksgiving and this giant pie was only $5.99 but there was no way my family could eat it all in a reasonable time period. The dilemma was debilitating and I just stood there weighing the pros and cons until my sister came to drag me out of the store. We ended up leaving with lots of cheese and not much else. I definitely enjoyed my time at Costco but I think the normal grocery store will do for now.

This trip reminded me how much I appreciate the United States with all its respect for racial women and diversity and the general ease of life. The transition back to my Peace Corps life will undoubtedly be a bit rough but I look forward to returning to my work and being a motivated and productive volunteer this year. 2010 was the fastest year of my life so far and everyone says that the second year of Peace Corps goes way faster. I will be back before Thanksgiving next year so this was my final holiday season in the Peace Corps.