t-day special

at this time last year, i was miles away from family in the warm caribbean sun, walking the streets of the colonial zone in the domincan republic's capital city of santo domingo. with banks of the ozama river knifing through the heart of the over populated city and the caribbean sea forming the southern border i was far from the cold fronts that were passing through the midwest and the great lakes region.  by this time, i was still not fully acclimated to the humid climate of the south and was craving just the slightest hint of wind burn on my lips and my mother's sweet potato casserole that was sure to warm my insides.

this was not the first major holiday that i had missed during the year of 2009. just six months earlier i spent easter sunday in paris while traveling with two study aborad friends, hannah and corrinne. instead of pastels and egg hunts, i was hurrying to attending notre dame mass and enjoying a makeshift feast of bread, cheese, and wine below the eiffle tower and her late night light show.

this holiday was different, i was not trekking through western europe on a first-hand history lession, i had my plane ticket set to return to cincinnati for the long weekend until i was presented with an opportunity to travel to santo domingo for a soccer try-out with clubs in argentina. after cancelling my ticket home, i made arrangements to participate in the event while still leaving some leeway to explore. and though the try-out did not live to the billing, i was fortunate to experience a part of the world that was much different to me and anywhere i had been in europe. after eleven days and a thanksgiving meal of mediocre pasta and fresh fruit i realized that i had a lot to be thankful for my most recent year of travel. 

this year however i am home, and though i cherish being with my family, playing with my niece and nephew, and revisiting with my best of friends, part of me likes that mystique that i have created by being in these foreign lands during these events. i will always remember the easter and thanksgiving of '09, as travel on holidays etch a different set of neurological connections in your memory bank. and while others in my family will be grabbing for their knives and forks at first sight of turkey or ham, i will be salivating on the memory burned into my head of travels past and conjuring up my next adventure to tell the grandchildren.