A Note Of Thanks To Sam and Jake

This is a note of thanks to my friends, Samantha and Jake. They have been supportive of me and my travel in Latin America, since 2014. This first part of this note was written recently and the latter half in February of this year when I was in Guadalajara. They are wonderful Millennials!!

For me, there will ALWAYS be a Sam and Jake! 

The both of you have been and continue to be the most meaningful persons in my life, since we met. Oh, my God, have we grown together!

Lima Peru has been the bane of my existence, a childhood dream come true. I have been the most productive in the last twenty years. I have written and posted about 150 essays in my Blog in two months, with theological and philosophical yearnings

As a result, I have regained an interest in my unpublished manuscript of twenty years. This is something that I have wanted to do for a long time

I have been grieving over to stay here for this reason and a small cohort of friends. And yet, Peru is not the place for me. I left a part of my heart in Medellin and Guadalajara. I got my release yesterday and I am relieved. Taking that existential leap of faith, once, to travel. I sincerely appreciate Peru and will miss some of my friends

The following letter, I wrote and sent to the both of you on February 24, 2017.  I was in Guadalajara. I have decided to post it in my Blog, because it is yet so meaningful to me. I re-read it and it was inspirational for me

Dear Sam and Jake

So much to say, So much to feel, I hardly know where to begin! “Thank you” always seems to be an appropriate starting point. So, thanks to the both of you for all the support that you have given to me, at least for the last three years. It was in June of 2014 that I renewed my passport and began my travel for peace, reconciliation, love of Spanish and possibly a residence somewhere in Latin America.

There is no question that we have been an extreme blessing to each other! I have deep gratitude for all those times that I took a break and came to your home and was welcomed. And especially during the holidays when I was still grieving the loss of my sister and spent Thanksgiving with Jake’s family

Having said that, I was in a space of nowhere and dealing with my own realities. And to be perfectly honest, I, often, still feel that I am in a space of nowhere, dealing with realities!! Becoming an expatriate is NO JOKE! It is hard as hell, but sometimes, it is necessary. Some good news is that I finally had a breakthrough in Guadalajara.

 I finally had some reconciliation of peace with respect to the loss of my sister, being OK to spend time with my family during the holidays, especially my mother. And if for some reason, I don’t make it there, at least it will not be for all of those past tiring reasons. The other breakthrough was my fluency in speaking and understanding Spanish (one day, after smoking something real good, I spoke Spanish fluently and understood EVERYTHING, ANYBODY said to me!!! Yay, I had been working towards and waiting for this moment for such a long time!

I am tired of scouting from country to country and need to settle somewhere for a while and get a dog! Guadalajara and Medellin are the two choices. Antigua Guatemala is a third choice because I have good friends there, but the volcano erupts too frequently.  When it does erupt, ashes are everywhere and it is such a nuisance!!

Guadalajara has a slight edge because it was the city that I had multiple breakthroughs and the people are very nice. One taxi cab driver, who once lived in the States, told me, he pays $100 a month for rent! Hahaha. However, I need to go to Medellin one more time just to make sure. I really love the city and the relaxed spirit that is there. It also may be somewhat cheaper than Guadalajara.

It has been here in Lima, where I seem to be stuck for a minute or two that I have begun to bite the bullet and make this necessary adjustment in my life. There are still things I need to do to make this transition and I hope that within the next two or three months, I can.

At least for the next two months, I will ask Sam to send me my mail; after which, I hope to have a permanent address. The post office can also hold your mail for up to three months. I hate the idea of even thinking that I am a burden on anyone’s life. I love freedom and independence!

I have always been unhappy about our contact with each other. I very rarely, if ever, get a first strike “hello, how are you doing, from either of you. I always make the first strike and have to wait many days and even weeks for a response, especially from Jake. My problem is the reconciliation that I have to make when I have seen you guys for hours on end, on your cell phone; and Jake even texting while driving. For me, I believe that I am definitely not a priority for communication and very far down on the list for necessary responses. This is not good for me, especially at this time in my life.