Fin de Viaje!

Yes, the trip is over. Where does the time go to?

A few thoughts overall.

First, it was incredible. I met the best people, visited the most amazing places, and experienced new and exciting foods (I'm craving lomo de pobre right now).

Second, I'm glad to be home. I was wondering if I'd experience reverse-culture-shock or general disgust with America, but I can honestly say: No, I love America. Yeah, we have a lot of problems, but you know what? Everywhere has lots of problems. That doesn't mean I wouldn't want to try living anywhere else, but it does mean that I'm glad to be home.

Third, my deep thought for the trip. I realized day by day in the countries I visited (especially Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador) that 'cultural diversity' there is far different than cultural diversity in North America. Yes, you have people from the mountains, people from the coast, people from the farms, people from the cities. Yes, they have their own cuisines and micro cultures. But at the end of my trip I could count on two hands the number of black people I saw. The first thing I noticed when I got to New York was how blessedly diverse the crowd was. All of a sudden I realized why the Chinese food and the Indian food I ate in South America was so bad. The lack of food options is one of many indicators that in South America, the diversity and knowledge of non-South American cultures is poor at best. (I'm realize I'm generalizing here. First, I only went to Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador. Second, the cities were much more diverse and had strong European influences. But even in BsAs there were only three Indian places in the city, and they weren't that great.) The long and short of it is that though we pay a lot of lip service to cultural diversity in America, it really is important to who we are. The next time you get aggravated that someone can't speak English very well or that someone doesn't understand your local customs, try to reason that they're improving this country in other ways. We all could probably learn something from them.

Ok, enough preaching. I'm back in Cambridge now, enjoying burritos at Anna's, Italian cuisine in the North End, and riding the T around with people from all over the world. I'm also taking a Spanish language class at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education.

America del sur hace una lugar especiale en mi corazon, pero soy contento estoy a mi casa.

Chao chicos!