Time is a strange thing. The three months I spent in South America seem like a mini-lifetime. Each day was an adventure, even if I just did my laundry at the lavanderia, grabbed some empanadas from the local pizzeria, and read the comics in Clarin.
Since I've been back, the days and weeks have run together. Time goes quickly when you are following a routine. This is not an inherently bad thing, but it is a less intense way of living.
Friends and colleagues have asked, "what's next?" I'm not sure yet, but I hope that whatever it is will honor the lesson I learned I while out of my routine: that the most rewarding goal is simply to experience life and all the world has to offer. The next time I complain about not having accomplished or achieved enough, the next time I moan about not having everything I want, just remind me: you survived using hole-in-the-ground toilets on blustery Andean hillsides for five days. For a city girl, that's an accomplishment.
