Past and Present

February 3, 2011

I had a dream last night that I was back in high school.

In the dream I saw my old friends and was literally skating on rollerblades from one side of the school to another trying to talk with them. There never was enough time to say anything substantial and I kept feeling like I was letting them down every time I skated away.

Almost five years has passed since I graduated. It’s such a short amount of time and yet I’m amazed at how bad a job I’ve done keeping in touch with my friends back home.

It seems like I get so concentrated and connected to the place and the people I’m with that I let slip the important relationships I left. I did it to the friends I made in high school, to the friends I made in college, and now I feel like I’m doing it to the friends I made during Peace Corps training.

I think it’s a good thing to be physically and mentally present wherever I am. I like that I am cultivating strong friendships in my community. Last week I melted with happiness when my HN neighbor said that she likes having me around because I’m ‘como nosotros’ or ‘like us’. However, I need to find a way to balance my past and my present.