been too long!

thought i'd dig in on some seafood curry... if that wont help nothing will! :)

ahh.. viatnamese food just ain't available (at least i don't think..!) in honduras

me with old friend michael

mother mary

thinking man

hilary outside of francescas in durham

me behind big hand in DC

cool sculpture in sculpture garden, smithsonian

dad in DC

2nd glass of barium before abdominal cat scan... echhh.. but only one to go after.. the banana flavor was better

some of mom's macaroni, sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes.. mmmm

dad making latkes (hil helped, too)

some of claire's famous christmas cookies.

there's my puppy... :)

me and my two best friends in the world.. i came from honduras/DC, melissa from chicago and aida from NY, and there we were, ringing in (randomly!) another new year's after a couple of hiatus years. how wonderful to see these amazing people!

sunsets are beautiful in the states.. very colorful

my sister transfixed by birds

obama whoooo hooo

another beautiful sunset..i'm much happier than i look i was just talking

i'm just a bill on capitol hill... or a bunch o protesters. it is messed up to blame all of the crap on hamas...

pigeons that flew repeatedly on and off of the PNC bank building.

supporters of palestine.. which we saw on our way to the holocaust museum.. talk about an interesting day

me in front of the library of congress

que parecido esta foto a jack keroac;)

my sister at botanical gardens




* * *

...but i'm back in DC after a wonderful (albeit not perfectly painless) trip home for the holidays to recuperate a bit and spend some time with family and friends. it was so nice to go home for a little bit! i must say that while i do feel anxious to get back, this trip home even after a short 6 months in the peace corps has been a blessing in disguise. i feel so much better than i did a month ago! now i'm just hoping that i'll be able to go back this week or maybe next. i'm feeling so positive about it though. i'm ready to go back! i'd like to finish recovering while i'm working at the same time, because i don't like not working, but since it's been the holidays and everything i probably wouldn't have been working a lot anyway. so, since tomorrow in monday and back to the doctor's offices grindstone, maybe i'll go find a little spanish coffee shop to practice some spanish! during the break, i practiced a little with reading and watching spanish TV, also was able to catch up with some old peruvian friends, which turned out to be a hell of a lot easier than i had expected and they were very surprised that i had learned spanish so quickly! i found it much easier to speak with natives than my good friend who is fluent in spanish, which was a bit odd because he is a better friend, but he said it is totally normal to feel more comfortable talking with natives. it does make sense--natives usually appreciate the effort as opposed to correcting you much. i am the same way when people make mistakes but are trying to learn english. man, i did NOT think i'd miss teaching english, but i really do!
i'm in my hotel room now after a day or museums with my sister and mom. we saw some protesters on capitol hill today chanting free palestine and while i am no israeli advocate, i have been feeling quite ambiguous about the situation. it's just seemingly so complicated that i'm not sure if i could ever formulate a "correct" opinion. i just can't believe so many people have died and are still dying for nothing.
i have to say also that we were there when obama drove through! well, i don't know that for sure but these motor guys and a bunch of cops came through as though it were an ambulance but mom could see through the rearview that there was a limo... :) this town is beautiful now that there's a change coming. and freaking al franken...! i think my faith in the US gov't is starting to form a bit. because god knows it was never terribly strong! and when i was looking over DC i really felt proud of my country... which was a feeling i hadnt felt since.. oh wait, i've been feeling that since obama was elected :) but before that, i don't remember ever having that distinct feeling. i think it also has something to do with visiting and living in a developing country...
i'm going to post some pics of the homeland now and wrote more tomorrow or tuesday after more doc appts with (hopefully) a great update .