Bah Humbug

In a seemingly inexorable countdown to our return to North America, I find myself ignoring the beauty all around me. I never realized how much I truly enjoy the comforts of Northern lifestyle before I spent a year away. Of course I’ve traveled and done the hippie backpacking gig in my teens, but I guess things change when you’re actually living in a foreign land (and have a baby). After a while, exotic novelty wears thin, and all you’re left with is a longing for Food Network and a Big Gulp from 7-11. The irony is that I’ve always prided myself in not being caught up with the trappings of modernity, but in the midst of the rainforest I find myself daydreaming about pushing an oversized cart down the aisles of Costco and loading up on peanut butter and shredded cheese.

On the other side of the gringo continuum, Rivers is in heaven. Unlike my poser-self, Rivs is a hardcore-to-the-bone minimalist. Give him a pair of running shorts and a trail and he’s elated for hours on end. Actually, I bet he’d even forego the running shorts if it were socially acceptable. Yup, just give him a trail and he’s off soaring like the wind into the wild. The past few weeks he’s been working as a porter, waking at 1am every other morning to pack 40 pounds of cargo up a 13,000 foot mountain. As though that weren’t grueling enough, he sometimes runs the extra 5 km to the very summit, just cuz. And then there’s me at home, working hard through a “Big 6” (a series of push-ups, lunges and crunches. Well, maybe not a series. About 5 minutes worth.) and dreaming of Target. Sheesh. When did I get so soft?

Meanwhile Harper is also flourishing amidst her tropical surroundings. She’s started to crawl, point, wave and dance. Ok, maybe I’m getting carried away with a little prideful mom syndrome. I guess I should redefine each of these terms.

Crawl- Yesterday, on four different occasions, she took about 5 crawling steps on her hands and knees in pursuit of her Tigger ball before getting confused and reverting to army crawl.

Point & Wave- I put these together because as of now, they’re the same manoever: Semi-balled fist cocked sideways pointing in the direction of the person she is waving at (usually her own reflection) or towards the thing she wants to inspect up close (usually some kind of animal)

Dance- A few days ago I found Harpern shaking her head to her Baby Einstein music player. Yup, Harper was rockin out to Mozart.

So maybe it’s the abrupt end to my academic endeavors that leaves me feeling anxious to leave. Or perhaps it’s the lack of sun up here in chilly Chirripo. But really, I’m probably just craving some Baked Lay's chips and good old Haagen Daaz ice cream.