El Salvador after two years

It's been two years since I was last in El Salvador, but it feels like yesterday.  Strangely, it still feels like home, much more than Baltimore does. This is where family and friends are. This is where I can be at the beach in thirty minutes or at the mountains in another thirty.  There are many things that I haven't missed, like the crazy traffic, horrible drivers, long work days, lines at the bank, and San Salvador in general, but there is so much more to it than that. 

My husband and I came for two weeks of vacation and a wedding, then I stayed on for another week of work and the National Conference for Teachers of English at CCSA. The vacations were much-needed and the work left me with a deep feeling of gratitude for the job I have in Baltimore and the fabulous people and students I have the pleasure of seeing everyday.  It was satisfying to see the research that I helped begin two years ago finished and presented as a final product, and reminded me that I need to make some sacrifices this year to get my doctorate on a role. 

Today I head back to Baltimore, happy to have come back to El Salvador, and with the certainty that it will continue to be home for a long time to come.