Jul 8, 2014

SWEET LIFE OF FREEDOM



One of my readers (didn’t know I had any left since I don’t update and I am so undeserving) asked if I had any updates on my sweet life now that I am free. Pretty succinctly and accurately put. I wasn’t free before, I mean I wasn’t in jail, but all the freedoms that my situation curtailed made me a kind of prisoner.

Other than the nasty acute sinusitis I am battling right now (gunk everywhere!) I AM living the sweet life. Sure, Colombia was robbed of that game by FIFA and that stupid referee (I haven’t stopped crying for James), yes Venezuela still suffers daily blackouts and shortage of goods, but me, personally have nothing to complain about.

What does one write when there are no demons to fight? I still feel directionless when it comes to this blog. I see comments and it makes me feel guilty of neglect and on the other hand I can’t shut it down, it would be like severing a relationship with a therapist, because believe me, sometimes writing (ranting) on this blog was the only thing that kept me sane.

DH and I went to Arizona, haha yeah, me. Remember that post I wrote four years ago? http://diaryofanillegalimmigrant.blogspot.com/2010/04/arizona-loves-guns-hates-spics.html

 Well that sure came to bite me in the ass because I spent a week in Sedona and I gotta say, aside from people in Mauii I have never seen such customer service, everyone and I do mean EVERYONE we met was so incredibly nice and attentive. Everywhere we went people would hand us bottles of water because Arizona is SO DAMMNED DRY, I mean I have never been so dry in my life, I was turning into a freaking prune and my eyes were so red I thought I was getting pink eye for the first time in my life. Nope, it was just the moisture being sucked out of my eyeballs by the dry heat. It was lovely.

There is something majestic about Sedona, I don’t know if it was the famous Vortex or not but the place is certainly magical, those red rocks, I just can’t explain how they make you feel. I will shoot for awe and leave it at that, I was in awe with its beauty, the intense reds and blues, the promise of road runners crossing (didn’t get to see one) the memories of watching Wile.E. Coyote chasing that damn bird over the familiar rocks. It was like a place I’ve never been but I somehow remembered. I also loved the fact that everyone is Sedona was so eco minded, there were recycling bins and solar panels everywhere.

DH and I got back from Phoenix suitcase full of sage, Navajo jewelry and feeling like daredevils after crossing Devil’s Bridge and hiking like pros on such high altitude (not a myth, the altitude will kick your ass). I feel I am a fairly fit individual, I may not be able to do a push up but by God my cardio game is on. I was seriously challenged hiking those trails, I mean I hiked all the time back at home in the mountains, on muddy, mossy terrain with no problem so dry rocky terrain should be fine, but it was haaaard man!

The Grand Canyon was, as expected, fucking huge. I mean I had an idea of how big it was gonna be, I knew the size in my head, and yeah I knew it can be seen from space, yeah, yeah. And then you get there and realize there is no way to accurately imagine the magnitude of that hole. One feels kind of miniscule and insignificant faced with such size.

Every time I get on a plane and I am terrified that it will be last time I take a breath and see my family and I will die a fiery death I am also so damned happy, happy that I can finally, finally, finally after 10 years do what I always wanted to do, which was travel and write. The writing part is more difficult that I thought it would be, but hey I’ll get there. In the meantime I will continue to enjoy this sweet life.

Next up is Colombia in October, going home after 12 years of absence will be interesting, DH can’t wait (I think mostly for the food and the pretty girls he will ‘discreetly’ check out without me noticing)