December 5 - 11: My first week back in the US

It's good to be back.

That is not my dad, it's my uncle. Blends in nicely though, eh?

This post is kind of hard to write. The past week has both flown by and dragged on. I will try to break it down by halves. I spent December 5, 6, 7, and part of 8 in Davidson, and the rest at home in Park Ridge.

December 4 was its own special day. I arrived to the airport absurdly early, waited around until boarding, went through a special security check since it was a "vuelo a los Estados Unidos" (I think just an extra security measure since Trump is xenophobic), and was officially on my way to the US. I clearly recall that the first minute after takeoff was a silent and beautiful moment and I could breathe through my nostrils for the first time all day. The remaining 9ish hours of the flight were luckily rather smooth, though I was not able to sleep. I recall having a moment of sadness around 7 hours in but it was fleeting. We landed in Miami just before 5:00am, still in the darkness, and marched like zombies through the security checkpoints.

My re-entry mugshot.

Here is a lovely anecdote: I knew I could not bring apples into the country but I forgot to eat it during the flight and I kind of got in trouble for this. The migrations man made me bite the apple in front of him and then I walked past a crew of airport workers and they laughed and shook their heads as I strutted past them chewing my apple. I had to go through a separate security check just for bringing an apple into the country!! An apple! We let people enter schools with guns but I can't bring an apple through an airport, get a load of that.

Anyway, I waited 3 more hours for my flight to Charlotte and felt very much like a zombie during that period. The next flight was short and smooth and I sat next to a cool dude.

My friend Abby so very kindly picked me up from the airport and seeing her beautiful face was a wonderful welcome back into North Carolina!! We drove back to Davidson and this is where the shenanigans began...

I wanted to surprise Claire and so I called her trying to figure out where exactly she was. I told her some stupid story and was laughing uncomfortably the whole time trying not to give away the fact that I was back. Luckily she thought I was still in Patagonia lol. I failed to locate her by the time we hung up but as the gods would have it, I turned around just in time to see her entering the library. I sprinted up to her, grabbed her shoulder, and she gasped, thinking I was a stranger. Then she registered that it was me and screamed. It was a beautiful moment, we were both kind of shocked and just so happy to be back together!

I saw a few more friends and acquaintances in the library and caught up with them, and then Claire and I left to buy ugly Christmas sweaters for a party that night.

Goofing off in the locker room.

Later that day I surprised Garnet in the library. I called her on the phone then snuck up behind her and asked, "Ya gonna answer that???" She said she had a feeling I was coming that day but I still caught her so off guard hehehe.

While Claire did a workout, I caught up with Dusan and we drove to Carburrito's and then hung out at his house later, where Luke was hanging out.

Eleni so kindly paid dining dollars for me to eat in Commons with the team and that was fun and just like the good ole times. Plus I realized Commons has tofu and olives at every meal!!! Let's goooo!!!

The main event of the day was the track holiday party and just general school-wide last party before finals. This was a blast and I saw tons of people while I was out. Plus I got tons of shoutouts for being back hehe ;)

I also surprised Randi this night. She walked into the eating house I was in and we saw each other right at the entrance. She jumped on top of me going crazy, also claiming to know I would come back that night... still surprised her though!!

The next 2.5 days at Davidson were filled with a lot of relaxing, among other things. Claire and I ran together a few times, lifted, and I even did half of a workout with her. We hung out at Nummit (where I did a "keg toss" to win some free prizes), went out to dinner with Paige and her boyfriend, and went to Brickhouse one night.

Perfect keg toss throwing form.

I had an awesome meeting with my coach, grabbed Whit's ice cream with Abby, caught up with Susannah, caught up with Maddie... Since it was finals time, there was a ton of free food up for grabs. I got pizza at "finals feast" and ice cream at the free finals ice cream event.

Can't believe she didn't get sprinkles...

It's hard to remember everything that I did because it's been a week full of lots of moving parts and for pretty much all my time at Davidson I was sleep deprived! But I can say with certainty that it was so great to be back with good friends and felt nice to have people excited to see me. I'm grateful to all the people that took time away from finals studying to spend it with me. I look forward to being back for second semester!!

So on December 8, I flew home to Chicago. As I stepped on the plane, I asked the flight attendants, "You guys think it's gonna be a bumpy one?" Without hesitation and certainly without amusement they responded, "Yes." Alright guys.

They weren't wrong but we did land safely and that's all that matters. I was shocked to find out I didn't lose too much of my cold tolerance because 27 degrees wasn't unbearable for me.

Seeing my parents was great and when we finally got home I hugged my mama for a long time and shed a few tears. It really is just so great to be back in my home with my family again.

Smuggled some dulce de leche into the country... you can take my apples but you can't take my dulce de leche.

My uncle was visiting this weekend because he came to see his mom (my grammy) and so he was there that night. It was really fun because I was questioning him all about his childhood and what my dad and grandparents were like then. Turns out my dad's memory isn't quite as accurate as I thought!

My dad prepared me this calzone and put his little profile pic next to it and I thought it was a funny set-up.

The morning of the 9th started with a lovely mother-daughter yoga class - where I discovered my mom is a LOT more flexible than me - and then a trip to Highland Park. My mom and I shopped around while my dad was in a meeting and then we all went out to brunch. Why do they make sports bras for people this small?!?!

My mom also tried to get me to go for a merry-go-round ride but I could hardly fit on the horse's back. It was a good effort though.

I also considered buying this dramatic shirt but my mom asked me, "Will you ever wear it?" and I said, "No," and the rest is history.

Brunch was fun and I think I just chilled the rest of the day... when it gets dark at 4:18pm you don't have much of an option other than to lay around :/

The 10th was filled with various appointments. I saw the foot doctor, the regular doctor, and went grocery shopping with my mama. What I conclusively decided is that I do not want to be a parent whatsoever. Shopping for my kids sounds like hell and the amount of produce in the world is astounding. How do I know when an avocado is ripe?? How do I know if Aldi or Jewel will have the cheaper coconut milk??

In Walgreens, picking up pills like a responsible adult.

That night, I went to the community center and bought my one month membership there because there is a discount for students and because I am quite frankly so sick of running outside when it is negative one billion degrees out. I ran on their fancy treadmill, rolled out, and lifted. Shockingly it's actually supposed to be in the 30s all week which is warmer than usual, but still good to have the gym as an option. Plus I can lift there and get huge.

So far today, the 11th, I've had a very productive morning. I went through my email, filled out some study abroad forms, did Davidson's mandatory sexual abuse training, organized my physical therapy appointments, got a job to do over winter break, called the doctor, Facetimed Loli, and wrote out my entire schedule for the upcoming weeks on the calendar that my mom gifted me for Hanukkah!

I leave for work in about 30 minutes and I'm so happy I found something to do over break! It's just M-NASR like I do over the summer, but it's better than nothing! In the coming days, I plan to apply for scholarships and jobs and that's mainly it.

Once again, I am so grateful to be home. I have experienced a little bit of "reverse culture shock" and am more attune to all the differences between my life here and my life as it was in Argentina, but all of it is helping me gain new perspectives and appreciate both experiences. I look forward to having a relaxing yet productive break, and mostly just enjoying being with family again.

I believe I still have a few more posts to write here so you'll hear from me again.

Song Recommendation of the Day: "Close Your Eyes" by Kim Petras