Moving onward...

Today marks the first post of the rest of my life. I grin as I write that. It seems appropriate for the opening phrase of the year. Other matters worth celebrating, today marks my two year anniversary in Brazil. That’s a long time when I stop to think about it. Two years. There are few things in my life that I have committed a solid 730 days to. Learning to swim took a month. My first bike ride, a few of days. Eating fresh mozzarella pizza in Italy, maybe 35 minutes. But two years. Yeah, that’s a solid chunk of time, and certainly a highlight in the grand scheme of my existence.

I’d like to think that all of this cultural pedaling, this dance through foreign puddles has been for, dare I say, a higher purpose. When I was in the midst of my divorce to my Brazilian wife back in the States, I felt like I was amputating a piece of my future. I felt a strong pull towards Brazil, an almost unexplainable feeling that it would play some larger role in my life. At the time, I thought that it was over—that whatever loose connection I had with the country would surely get flushed out with my failed relationship.

But for some reason, I kept reading, believing, dreaming that someday I would make this place my reality. I needed a fresh start, a new title, and a way to challenge my budding individualism and personality. Above all, I wanted to prove to myself that I could survive on my own, that I could walk the path of the cultural warrior, disciplining my mind to inherit this new and exciting world.

I suppose that this path, this longing, this expression of my life is the closest thing to spirituality that I have known. Somehow I feel fated to be here. To run my hand through my girlfriends hair, to taste the sea and feel the sand slip gently through my toes. I feel blessed for this opportunity to breath in a new life and become somebody that I wasn’t before.

Now, after a long month in the States, after a taste of the bitter cold, I am back in Bahia. The weather is warm (beyond warm, more like scorching hot!), and I feel content that my two years are up—that I am moving beyond the initiate phase in my tango with Brazil.

Low tide on the shores of Itaparica.

Hark hark the great future awaits. (p.s. I'm white again)

Awesome trees around town.

Windswept V on a summer shore.

Reflections

All things considered the vacation has been going well. I feel like I am getting the US out of my system and that I won't feel the need to eat fast food, or sit in an SUV, or go bowling for quite some time. The weather has been pretty overcast, cold, and bleak since I arrived, with icy storm fronts threatening to steal away my personality. New Mexico was nice, Boulder swift but savory, and Michigan somewhat oppressive but fun. I have crossed paths with old friends, danced around a Capoeira roda, eaten exorbitant amounts of hamburger with fries. I have run through snow drifts, sword fought with icicles, and played god awful amounts of Halo in HD. I have exercised my first world purchase power and will bring home gobs of electronics, shoes, clothes, and just about every thing else under the sun.


It's been good, real good. A bit fattening and non-productive at times, but certainly worth the trip. As I spend my last few days on my parents farm one this is for sure: I think I'm ready to get home. Bahian heat is calling, in all of its mystery and majesty. I miss the girl, miss drinking coconuts by the sea, miss the way people stare at my white face when I say "oxe!" and make gringo faces.

The Lost Boys

Old Haunts

I've got a long list of resolutions this year. I want to get stringy tough with gym and martial arts, want to take my girl out to a steak dinner (Argentina!?), want to destroy my work colleagues in MA papers. I want to invest more money in mutual funds, maybe buy a plot of land, maybe sell more and more of my things. This year I'd like to get serious about my writing, maybe set a couple of evenings a week on a book, maybe write something that doesn't just disappear.

Work colleagues at the museum.

Microbrew!

If anything this little vacation has taught me, it's that I'm pretty satisfied with where my life is heading. There is nothing like letting go of familiarity, shucking off comfort and security, and finding something that gives you meaning. A path realized by you and you alone is the greatest path of all, because no matter what happens it's yours. I suppose I take comfort in that.

Kalamazoo's very own Big Burrito

The video below is worthy of a post itself. It's so cool! My brother set up his camera at our cabin in the mountains and took pictures of our crazy night on New Years. It is a time lapse collage, 1 hour long, pics at 6 frames per second. Check out the dog lazing about on the floor and our dance off in the kitchen. Definitely one to cherish for some time to come.