After living in Caracas for a year and a half, I guess there are things that I’ve become so accustomed to that I no longer take notice. As I’m sure as every expat experiences, there were things about the US – or South Florida, that I did notice during this short trip that I probably would’ve seemed the norm once upon a time.

Where are the lines: I’ve told you how Venezuelans have turned standing in line into an art. The first time I took notice was while at Super Target (my other home) and every line, including the one I was in had 4 to 5 people. All of a sudden, a manager looking guy comes to the front and starts calling for back up cashiers. What?! You mean I don’t have to spend more time in line than I did shopping? Awesome!

Which brings me to my next observation…

Quick errands: In Caracas I always expect errands to take long (I spent four hours in line registering the kids for school last month). So, when I managed to go to pick up groceries at Publix, buy lotions at Bath & Body Works and make a quick run through Marshalls in 1 hour and a half, I was convinced that I forgot to do something. Now, one of the reasons that this is so much quicker is because they were all located in the same strip mall – an architecture that I have yet to see here in Venezuela.

Google is useful: One day for lunch we felt like having Chinese. I’m not very particular about where I get my low mein and fried wontons and I wanted to place my order so it would be ready when I got there to pick it up. What do I do? I Google Chinese food and my zip code. And guess what? 18 places came up. I chose one that was pretty close and had a website where I could review the menu. I placed my order – which they said would be ready in 15 minutes and when I arrived 25 minutes later, it was waiting for me on the counter. By this time, my head was about to explode with the excitement of convenience.

We live in the car: Now, this one was not a happy change. Everything, and I mean everything we did required the car. I know this may not be the case for all expats living in Caracas, but we live in an area that’s central to all the basics. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have lasted a year and a half without a car (felt so weird saying that to Floridians). In any case, I put on a few pounds in two weeks due to this inconvenience and I literally felt myself getting lazier.

After all these observations, I don’t know whether I’m now more of Caraqueña or still a South Floridian at heart

So, as we were making our final descent in Miami, I started to get as excited as my little guy who spent the entire 2.5 hours saying “Mommy, we’re flying!” What I initially thought was a feeling of new adventure, was really a comfort in going back to the familiar. Anyone who’s been to Miami International Airport knows that it’s in perpetual construction and there’s always something new – even that felt familiar.

When we were driving on I-95 to go home, which has also had some work done to it in the past 18 months, it all felt the same. I knew the exit signs, I knew how much farther we had to go, I knew the crazy drivers who were going to speed past to get in front of you only to slam on their brakes. Before we even made it home, I finally accepted that the word I’d been avoiding is that this felt like home.

I used to think of myself as a nomad. I had no trouble packing up and moving to a new place when I felt the time was right. I never really felt like I was leaving a home behind, I was simply going to create a new one wherever I went. Well, I don’t know if it’s age or the fact that Venezuelan society is a bit more difficult to infiltrate , but I now know that for the time being, South Florida is where I consider to be my home.

My first few days there were blissful. The humidity was at about 70% and the temperature was over 100F. It was normal…expected. I didn’t want to anything and I wanted to do everything. The latter is what got me into trouble the remainder of my trip. This picture is the view from my bedroom window. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s home (wow, that’s 4 times in one post ).