It's Sunday morning and I am getting ready to go on a hike down to the Laguna near my house. It's about an hour hike down, and after sitting in the sun for several hours it's always a little longer getting back up. The weekends are usually very relaxing. Last night one of the other Peace Corps Volunteers had a birthday party and we also spent the day at Volcan Masaya which is one of the most active volcanoes in the world.
Today is fathers day, and the US Open is on television in the U.S. I can imagine a nice, warm, Sunday afternoon of laying on the couch watching Tiger Woods and other great golfers slug it out while the burgers cook on the grill outside. I recieved an email this week that the HEELS are back in the College World Series, and beach trips to Wrightsville would be a weekly necessity by this point. These are just a few of the things that come to mind on a Sunday far away from home. The truth is that while it may sound like home sickness it is really just part of the cultural adaptation process. I love so many things about the life that I left behind in order to understand how others live. Nobody ever said this was going to be easy, and although it is the most exhilirating time of my life it is at times very challenging. Family and friends are so often taken for granted, but when you have to experience life without them around you start to realize how they are in so many ways the fuel for your life. Unfortunately those friends and family can't always give you the purpose that you crave in your life, and sometimes your pursuit of purpose can take you away from them, but on the other side of it all is the time when you get all of those relationships back and you have gained a new perspective on life a long the way.