Landing

Returning home following a prolonged absence can be very interesting at times.  I wasn't away in Costa Rica that long, only a month.  Still, the sense of time feels very altered.  It feels as though I have been away much longer.  Perhaps a year.  Because we are in seasonal transition here in Vancouver, the time lapse seems particularly long as we move from winter to spring, especially given what a prolonged and unusually cold winter we've had here in Lotus Land.

I was out today for a coffee visit and long walk through the West End and into Stanley Park today with a good friend only to be amazed and overwhelmed by the flowers and budding new leaves of spring.  A month ago it was still winter here and within a couple of days of landing in Costa Rica yet another batch of snow fell on my city.  It is like stepping into a new world.

I don't much enjoy flying, especially economy, though I cannot afford business class and even if I could, I would likely still eschew it out of a sense of conscience.  It is always overcrowded and noisy, now that air travel has morphed into a post-modern equivalent of third class steerage and travel on  ocean liners and trains back in a different century.  I still just bite the bullet and suck it up like everyone else because, hey, I want to see those places in other lands, don't I?  And despite the atrocious air fair and other gouges the airlines inflict on our dignity, they all know that we will move heaven and earth if we must for those bucket list moments overseas.

I felt strong, happy, and positive throughout my voyage home, scarcely aware that I was really in a state of hysteria overdrive due to nervous exhaustion.  It was only upon reaching my apartment that I felt ready to collapse.  I was suddenly weak, disorganized, emotional and unable to string together words for a coherent sentence.  I did my best to unpack and spooned some peanut butter out of the jar because I was famished and there was no other readily accessible food in the apartment.  And I did not have the energy, nor the strength to go out for a meal or buy groceries.

I have been undernourished food-wise throughout this trip.  Apart from the decent breakfasts at my bed and breakfast, affordable meal options were scarce in Monteverde, and on the plane, especially for vegetarians.  I often subsisted on trail mix and ended up losing five pounds I was needing to shed anyway.

I am glad to be home, overwhelmed with gratitude and joy for all the beauty, splendour and wonder of the wild nature in Monteverde and the dear friends I have made there, as well as the improvement in my Spanish, noted today by my Peruvian friend.  I am also overcome with the sheer wonder of the life God has given me here in Vancouver, the wonderful friends, an apartment I can afford and work that I enjoy doing that helps others and contributes to the community.  I am also glad to be shopping for and cooking and eating food that really nourishes and sustains me as I recover my health and move into this next phase of my life and with gratitude to you, my Gentle Reader.