Life As Performance Art 10

It feels longer than just ten days or so since my return from Monteverde and Costa Rica. Much longer. It is as though I was never there. Being away was like a dream. I wonder why. I just read a blogpost from my visit, and it all seemed very concrete and down to earth. Getting home hasn't been easy. I have been through quite an obstacle course since leaving Monteverde: a bus driver who threatened to steal my luggage; rude customs interrogators in Toronto and a nearly missed flight home to Vancouver; a testosterone addled jock in the seat behind me on the flight to Vancouver who kept jabbing my back with his fingers on the touch screen and his knees getting driven into my lower back; coming home to a a toilet that still hadn't been fixed during the month of my absence, even after I had previously notified the building managers three times before leaving on my trip; paintings being left in disarray upon opening the door to my apartment (there was a flood in my building during my absence, workers needed to check the damage and, even though managers had my email contact, no one notified me about it) news that Telus was still nagging me for a payment I was sure I had already given them, only to learn that the money had been diverted to Canada Revenue and so I spent my first full day back straightening out that mess between Telus, my bank and Canada Revenue; and negotiating the end of a friendship that had gone very bitter. I have also needed to get back to work right away, because, even though some of you don't seem to know this, some of us have to work in order to survive. I have received an apology from the bus company in Costa Rica for the shabby treatment from the driver, and my friend in Monteverde and I are in regular contact. I have finally recovered from my travel fatigue, and this usually does take a week and a couple of days. I am sleeping fairly well, eating well, enjoying long walks and visits with friends. I am also trying not to complain too bitterly about the cold temperatures and rain, given that we're in mid_ April and one would hope that the city is going to feel like spring, but at least it looks like spring and everywhere is full of flowers and new leaves. Could things be better? Things could always be better. Could things be worse? Things could always be worse. Am I happy? Ridiculous question. I'm almost always happy, except for the occasional depression. Do I miss Monteverde? I always and I always will miss Monteverde, even while I am in Monteverde. Am I glad to be home? Very glad. But now, I also live in Monteverde, even if it does feel like a dream, and this is because Monteverde is always going to live in me. The people who live there, their style of Spanish, their warmth and friendliness, their pride in their land and community and their humility as persons; the natural splendour will always live in me: the huge trees, the birdsong, the wind, the vines, flowers, leaves and moss and ferns, the cloud forest, the butterflies, especially the morphos, birds and especially the hummingbirds, the armadillos, the agoutis, the coatis and the monkeys; the amazing views, the rainbows and the killer hills to climb. I expect to return there next year, but not to live, because I live in Vancouver first, and second in Monteverde, and perhaps eventually also in Colombia and in Mexico. I do also miss speaking Spanish every day and all day, but even here in Vancouver there are ways of staying fluent. Today, I am going to work, which I have also missed while away. But not too much!