Back in the USA (Lisa)

Well, we made it back to the good ol' US of A. It was a mostly uneventful journey - well, with the exception of our taxi in Belize City breaking down on the way to the airport. (A good samaritan picked us up and drove us the rest of the way and all was well.) It's a bit weird readjusting to the pace here after six weeks south of the border! But, we're doing our best to re-acclimate slowly. In the meantime, here's a list of some of the things we'll miss, and others we're happy to be done with:

Things we'll miss:

• $15 hotel rooms
• the turquoise waters of the Caribbean
• CD's being sold on the street for $2 or less (yeah, they're pirated)
• the sound of grackles (bird) in the morning
• fried plantains!
• fresh fish dinners for $6 or less
• meeting interesting people from all corners of the world
• Mayan ruins
• hearing the wacky Kriol language of Belize ("bwoi, you daag oagli!" = boy, your dog is ugly)
• candlelit dinners on Turneffe atoll
• howler monkeys!
• strolling through the streets of 500-year-old colonial cities like San Cristobal de las Casas

Things we're okay doing without:

• sand flies
• language barriers ("No hablo bien el espanol.")
• the constant worry about food and water making us sick
• having to put used TP in a trash can instead of flushing (Guatemala & Mexico)
• always having to track down a waiter to ask for the check (we were given the check without asking exactly TWO times in six weeks)
• milk from a box (very little fresh milk available)
• having to "do math" to figure out what things "really" cost (pesos, quetzals, and dollars, oh my!)
• really crummy quality TP and napkins
• worrying about botflies (go ahead, click on the link!) and malaria

Anyway, I'm sure there are many more things for the lists, but you get the general idea..... Overall, we're kind of happy to be back, and a little sad, too.....

We'll keep posting to this blog, as the adventure will continue. Phase one of our adventure is complete, now comes phase two: creating our new life in Asheville! Stay tuned.....