After nearly 18 months away from the borderland, I found myself back in El Paso. Boy was it great to be back home. In the time I had been away, the city continues to grow and change, and yet it still remains the same. Friendly people, beautiful mountains, great Mexican food.
After a week of D.C. training and a 4 day road trip. I had roughly a week back home, seeing friends and family, enjoying southwest cuisine, and taking in some NMSU Aggie Football. It was also strangely productive in that I was able to take back possession of our house from our renters since Angeli and the girls will be moving back for the year I am in Rangoon, I was able to make sure our ancient dogs will be well cared for, and I was able to sherpa back lots and lots of meat to Mauritania.
Being back home was also strangely affirming of my decision to join the Foreign Service. Although it was wonderful being home, I didn’t miss the routine, and definitely don’t miss the nature of our for-profit medical system. I was able to reflect on if it was a good decision to abandon our good life back home. The answer is a resounding yes, although I am really going to enjoy using my R&R’s from Rangoon to return home to El Paso and just relax. Definitely glad we held onto our house.
After getting some of the chores of being back home done, I was glad to be able to spend time with my 92 year old grandfather and take him to church. His wife, my grandmother passed away a couple of months ago, and I was really sad I couldn’t make it home for the funeral. Although it was expected due to her very advanced dementia, and she lived a very full life, these things are sad, and it is a definite downside of choosing to live abroad. Seeing him was incredibly heartwarming.
As mentioned above, it was also great seeing my dad who is doing great recovering from a radical prostatectomy, and as fellow NMSU alums, we got to take in the homecoming game at NMSU. NMSU is historically one of the worst top division college football teams…EVER! But this season is history making. They have already won 8 games with 4 left to play, are going to a bowl game, and are playing in the Conference USA championship game. To put that into context, NMSU hasn’t won a conference championship in 50 years, and this is only their 5th time in over 100 years of playing football that they have won 8 games. Schools like Texas A&M fire coaches for averaging ONLY 8 wins, but in southern New Mexico, it’s almost as good as wining the whole thing. It was history in the making, and getting to see them win the 7th game in person at homecoming was so sweet. Below is a pregame shot of Aggie Memorial Stadium. Hard to find a college football stadium with a better view.
Sadly, the trip home had to come to an end, although by the time I was getting ready to leave it had been nearly 3 weeks away from my family, and I was missing them terribly. The year in Rangoon is going to be really tough. Thankfully, all the flights were all on schedule and I got home just in time for a relaxing day at the beach. All in all, a great/productive trip home that has me looking forward to home leave next summer. -Nick
