Another excellent weekend passed by. Spearfishing with Gerry and Daniel, Mazurka until 5 am, lounging on Estoril all day with pretty girls... Overall not a bad way to spend a couple days. Of course, it makes me pretty disinclined to leave here in two weeks. Yes, that’s right, two weeks. My flight out of Boa Vista is Sunday the 10^th. I have interviews and medical stuff in Praia for three days, and then I have a few days of just bumming around, because I couldn’t get a flight to Boston until the 20^th.

So how does all that make me feel? It makes my head want to pop. Two years is a long time to live somewhere. Ok, maybe if you said in the US “Yeah, I lived in Cincinnati for a couple years,” it might not mean much. Cincinnati doesn’t have much of an effect on people (or anything, I think). But two years of being here is really intense. It’s like living 10 years anywhere else. Not only is Peace Corps in general an extreme experience, but doing it on an island of 4000 takes it to a whole new level.

In any event, I’m excited to go back, but anxious. I don’t know exactly how I’m going to react, but I know it’s going to be strange. Every time I’ve hung out with a European here for the last couple months, I’ve noticed that I don’t understand why they act the way they do. They are bothered by things that I don’t notice. They take too long to get ready. They get anxious and worked up over minor details. They try to get to places on time. I dunno. If that’s how Americans are, it’s going to be a tough adjustment. But I honestly don’t even remember.

I’m not in a particularly philosophical mood at the moment, so I will once again postpone writing about any reactions. Also, I have no idea how I actually feel, because it seems to change every 15 seconds or so. So I’ll let you know once I’ve figured it out. In the mean time…

Things I will miss:

• Estoril beach
• Swimming on my lunch break
• Windsurfing on my lunch break
• 2-3 hour lunch breaks
• My friends
• Crystal clear, warm, blue water
• Being the only white guy at the party
• My work
• Confusing people with baseball references
• Crioulas
• Free time to read a lot
• Telenovelas (oddly enough)
• Cachupa
• Loud drunk Cape Verdeans
• Festivals
• Fresh fish
• Lunch at Gerry and Orquidea’s
• Conversations in 3 or more languages
• Complete silence after 11 pm
• Sitting in the praça for hours for no particular reason
• The desert
• BBQs
• Perfect weather, every day
• Not having to worry about rent, health insurance, car payments, money in general…
• Wearing t-shirts and jeans to work
• Living the rest of my life shirtless or sleeveless
• Being tan all the time
• Games of chess at the wind club
• Ridiculous Creole slang
• Speaking Creole in general
• Coca-Cola made with real sugar
• Riding in the back of pickup trucks
• Shameless dryhumping at Mazurka
• Sitting on my balcony with a beer and chatting with passers by
  

Things I will not miss

• Flies
• Mosquitos
• Struggling with water constantly
• Tourists
• Getting all my sports news in online highlights
• Shitty Portuguese beer
• Eating the same 10 meals on repeat
• Lousy fruits and vegetables
• Obnoxious quads
• Inflated prices
• Street dogs
• Zouk