So I have finally returned to the USA. Who would have thought. Although I visited in 2002 for the last time, it was only a short stint and with all the post 9/11 craze going on hardly typical. Other than that, it's really been pretty much 12 years. That's a lot of time...

After having been here for two weeks, I still feel a bit in a haze. It's really weird. In many ways, one fits right back into US style of living. There are more Starbucks cafes now, but they still smell the same inside. There are still 24hr supermarkets, only the bio-food section is bigger now, and I actually live right across a Whole Foods 100% bio super. Etc etc

So in many ways, the US seems similar to what it was in 1994. Problem is that I am different. When I came to Boston back then I had just been 4 years that Eastern Germany had abandoned communism. I was hungry for the new, enthusiastic. Pretty oblivious to social issues. And ready to consume. I dived headlong into the American Dream and was sold heart and soul.

And now? I notice that it is much more difficult here to be a non-consumer. Businesses are incredibly good at selling things, they make it so easy and convenient to part with my money in style, I feel constantly tempted to buy things. And then I'm stopping and saying to myself - yes, but my old iPod still works. Looks tasty - but I am not really hungry. Great features, but do I need that in a cellphone? Etc. Sometimes it stops me, sometimes it doesn't. In Argentina it was easy to reject consumption - it was simply not much fun. Here it IS fun to consume, in fact, it's a very central pillar of life's philosophy - work hard, and then buy all those things you deserve. If you have to, on your credit card. I'm still waiting for mine, so I'm safe from the evils of credit for now. :-)

Washington, DC has many green spaces within short distance, and is really quite relaxed, especially when compared to the manic frenzy of Buenos Aires. I am walking a lot and am liking it, I've gone skating, both in the city (and survived!) and on a gorgeous bike trail through leafy neighborhoods (of which there are quite a few). I have also gorged on comparatively cheap ethnic food (there goes the weight reduction!). So in many ways, the city has been well living up to expectations.

I still find it a bit hard to fit in, people wise, though. For once, DC seems a strange mixture between multi-ethnicity and separation. It's more more "colorful" than BsAs, but it really quite seems like every group (latinos, blacks, asians, and whites) are pretty much sticking to their communities. There seems to be little mingling, I've yet to see a second mixed race couple (yep, did see one). Most mixing still seems to happen in the gay community (I live in Dupont Circle and am getting hit on pretty much every other day - hehe, that says something about my flirt value, doesn't it? :-)).

So far, I am enjoying bucket-sized (and excellent) coffee at Starbucks and Co, seeing the daily stretch limo (saw one yesterday that must have spanned a block, photo will come), and taking pleasure that, in comparison to the general population, I finally seem a lot less "gordo" :-)