Toto, I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore

…but I never understood why Dorothy was in such a rush to get out of Oz!  Couldn’t she see the amazing world that was out there for her to explore? Of course that wasn’t Dorothy’s only problem but I will spare you my literary analysis of the journey to Oz!

Now I am the one in Oz.  Of course, anyone from Samara would likely call NYC Oz.  I was riding my bike around town this weekend exploring the pueblito!  I think this place is offically a village…not even a town!  And I was giggling thru comparisons to NYC.  So here is a little photo tour of Samara.

Main Street

This cracks me up!  This is a list of ALL the bars and restaurants in Samara

There is a family of horses that just roam free. It is beautiful to see.

The view out my window.

And learning to relax!

And Samara is making me want a dog more and more.  Here are some of the pets at my apartment building who keep me company when I am working outside (which I have to do in order to get internet service!)

   

But one of the things I love most is the color.  It isn’t just green.  Who needs flowers when the leaves look like this!

  

But really doesn’t this look a little other worldly?

In 2000, I went over the Rainbow to NYC.  I think living there requires a constant cost/benefit analysis.  Tiny apartments, with long commutes and strange roommates.  Jobs with long hours and little pay.  Always schlepping stuff trying to figure out how you will get this there or vice versa.  (I once saw a man in a suit rollerblading down 9th Ave carrying a vacuum cleaner.)  The heat.  The cold.  Or the crowds for something as simple as a movie.  And the pace.  The competition and expectation.

For 11 years, that cost/benefit analysis was always weighted toward staying.  Until this May.  When I was in Laos and I thought…”I don’t have to live like this anymore.”  Always broke, always stressed and often alone.  When you backpack alone you get the opportunity to meet so many fellow travelers and they all have a story.  I encountered many people who just changed their lives and are living outside the box.  Doing it their own way.  I was inspired.  So, I up and left it all for now, forever, who knows.  But I left!

And it took about 2 days for me to miss NY!!!  Ha!  New Yorkers are going to get what I am saying but others may not.  You see, New York is never just the setting of our stories; it is also a character in our story.  The city itself is a character in my life.  And I miss her.  Time will tell if I miss the city like one misses a bad relationship and with time all her negative qualities will come into view and the longing fades.  Or if I miss the city like a great but no longer possible love.  Or maybe I will return.  For now, I am exploring myself and the big wide world as much as I can.  Regardless of whether I return to “Kansas” or not, I will not be like Dorothy; I will allow my time in Oz to change me or else what was the point of going over the rainbow?