Día 317: "Empezé quererte."

I had a most peculiar night. While Rosario and Diana worked away at the office, I did my best to call a cab, as the sun had set and I was not in the mood to walk the spooky ten blocks home in the dark. Because it was raining and a Friday, no cabs were available. After almost two hours, lots of frantic phone calls, and a few tears as I took one last look at the conference room, my “Colombian Mama” came to the rescue! I got to give her a big hug before leaving, promising to be back soon (with tears in my eyes again . . . ).

Our salsa plans were scrapped as Elena Auntie and I experienced the extreme exhaustion endemic to the unabashed Energizer bunnies that we aim to emulate. We put our efforts instead into magically packing my five maletas’ worth of stuff into one check-in suitcase and one burdensome handbag. This must have taken over an hour, and we crashed just before midnight, with our Osaki take-out eaten.


It seems that the bar of soap in my shower counted down my time in Colombia -- there was but a sliver left this morning as I rose at 5:30 and prepared for the drive to the airport. Maria Victoria picked us up and sped us there, where we ran out of time for breakfast at Crepes & Waffles, and I instead enjoyed my last cafe Colombia at Oma as I sent and received the usual “I’ll miss you!” texts from friends and colleagues before going through security.


Papa was flying through Bogotá from La Paz this morning, and I showed off my Spanish skills (lack thereof) to him briefly before I boarded. And bemoaned the fact that I’m leaving this breathtaking nation!


My first flight was nothing out of the ordinary, but for its insufferable length and the steward for whom I had to pretend not to understand Spanish to avoid being chided for last-minute texts to my sisters Priya and Laura.

Upon arriving at Newark, I consumed some flavorless food, missed Colombia some more, called Mama, finished reading The Power of Now, and started writing this post.


My second flight seemed to land as soon it took off, with classy salsa and tongue-in-cheek Reggaeton to keep me company. I touched down at Dulles to my favorite welcome party!

Priya Gill

We drove off in search of Indian food and enjoyed it after I bestowed upon Mama her puertas, coffee maker, coffee, and keychains.


I’m sleepy and I miss Colombia. Severely.

Comments

  1. MauricioJuly 15, 2012 at 12:10 AM

    I'm glad you got back safe! We already miss you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ratna GillJuly 15, 2012 at 11:56 AM

      No tienes ni idea cuanto yo extraño mis collegas y la ofiii!

      Delete

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