The end of April and practically the entire month of May was an atypical time of my fellowship.
From April 24th to May 6th I received the beautiful visit of my parents who I hadn’t seen them since September. Although there were times in my life where I hadn’t seen them for a longer period of time, I was really looking forward to seeing them since we suffered a big loss in my family at the beginning of the year when my beloved grandmother passed away.
Losing a relative when you are away is not the best experience one could have, yet is not the worse. On one hand I felt bad for not being able to support my family in such sad moment. On the other, I feel like I suffered much less than them since they were the ones next to her during her last days. I feel like this kind of experiences help me to build myself stronger and learn how to deal with such moments over the course of my life.
Despite the above mentioned, my parent’s 10-day visit to DC were full of joy and happiness. During weekdays I went to work while they explored different places around DC: Space and Air museum, Holocaust, African American, Gallery of Art, Memorials, Georgetown, etc. I used to meet them for a 2-hour lunch discovering different restaurants in town, then go back to work and yoga and met them for dinner. We went to Ethiopian, Indian, Spanish, Argentinian, American, French and Mexican restaurants and we visited the Pentagon and Arlington Cemetery, which I hadn’t been there since I arrive here.
Saturday May 6th was the moment to say goodbye to them, but it also marked the beginning of a new adventure: California with 2 friends.
What can I say about my trip? That is was just perfect. We started in Los Angeles where we rented a car and started our road trip along the west coast. Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Santa Barbara, Joshua Tree, Cambria, Yosemite National Park and San Francisco. Although I had visited most of these places before with my family, this was another plan, that’s basically why I was “in” since the moment my friend called me proposing this trip.
After my two week holiday, I came back to D.C. with my energies fully charged to attend May’s GLL which meant another week without going to the office. Yeah, three weeks on a row without going to the office! Although I stayed tuned for any outstanding issues that could appear, thankfully nothing major happened. This helped me to relax 100% and enjoy Cali’s beauty with my friends.
Now I’m transiting the last few months of my fellowship in D.C. before I head back to Argentina in September. Is this the end? Not yet, the American Red Cross has extended my contract for 6 months. Then, why I’m going back home? Because I have some weddings to attend and in November I’m back in D.C.
Much peace, always.