Last full day in Santa Marta. Had a great night’s sleep – from 10:30 PM to 8:30 AM. Another gorgeous, sunny day. Woke up feeling sad – partly because it is our last day here and partly because my “monthly visitor” has put an end to pool fun.Mark made me a grilled cheese for brunch. I had gotten myself a brownie (diet out the window – gotta find out from Beth if we’ll have a Class Reunion this year and get serious about a “self improvement” regime).
Decided to go to the beach and sit in one of the cabanas (more like tarps over chairs). Very nice setting – not crowded and the folks selling food, drinks, jewelry, etc. are not too pushy. Walked around some – always nice to feel the ocean and the sand. Got a good view of the condos – if I had $100,000 to spare I would be the proud owner of Colombian beach front property. They assured me Sydney would be allowed, but they probably don’t really know. Mark said we should just rent a place – said he’d like Chile. So I immediately came up with Valparaiso and started to make plans. I could teach English as a Second Language. Or I could write – Valparaiso certainly would be conducive to writing. Maybe I can create my own genre – Magical Realism meets Inside Beltway Incompetence. I said this to Carl over e-mail and he suggested a title “100 Years if Ineptitude”. May have something there …. But it sounds more like a comic strip. Plus might get sued by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Except for having to get a lawyer to defend me, that would be nice as I might get to meet him.
If I could have picked what I wanted to REALLY do – and supporting me was not a concern – I would have wanted to be a writer. I said this to Becky while I was at Imperial in the 90s (ironically writing my thesis – which has probably been read by two people – not even sure Peter and the examiners read it in its entirety). Becky said there was still plenty of time – that I had led an interesting enough life to give me ample material. And that was before things got even crazier! I often like to think of what would be a good opening sentence for my “novel” (though I think I may be more the short story type). Something catchy, like “Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time”. I thought about it at the beach -- think my theme will be something along the lines of “She never saw the need for accurate translations.” Can cover just about anything I’ve experienced.
Mark eventually came down and we sat by the pool a bit – then convinced him he should go to the beach as he could get cheaper beer there. That’s all it took – his natural aversion to sand trumped by his love of cheap beer. Lost count of how many beers he had – I had ice cream – which was not that good. Eventually we came back in and went to the gas station for a snack. Out of empanadas … the country is starting to say goodbye. If Sydney were here I would want to stay another week … I think I am finally in rhythm. Our next vacation is in three months – Kuwait. Staying at a fancy Hilton on the beach. I hope my monthly nemesis stays away ….. Then three months after we go to Greenland (gotta get free Hotels in Copenhagen with Hilton points – hope Jessica booked stuff OK – seems to be taking forever to get vouchers). And then three months after Guadalupe – another RCI exchange – need to get air tickets – hopefully free. May not even be at the beach – but I’m sure there is a pool – and I think it is not in an isolated spot.
When it comes to “work to live, or live to work” – I think we are more at “work to vacation”. Except I can never be totally happy – as when I’m home I want to be on Holiday but when I’m on Holiday, I miss Sydney. And when I return home I get separation anxiety from Mark (we both have business trips next week – Sydney back with Lynn). Not the paralyzing kind of separation anxiety I used to get as a child from Maggie, my Mom and my Grandparents – but hard enough. I need to get over this sadness …. Just had a lovely Holiday and should be all tanned and rested! Must be hormonal L
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