ok, so long time huh? well i'm back, back to the blog, back to honduras, back to my life for the next year and change. i spent 2 weeks in the states, which I guess requires some comments, thoughts, reflection, whatever. my brother got married, which was incredible, so congrats big homie. the wedding was held on his property in the middle of the redwoods, a simple but beautiful ceremony, with friends, family, and many wonderful people I had not met before that day. we had spent days preparing, putting candles everywhere, stretching lights between trees, decorating, and everything else that is part of a faerie woods wedding (if you know the bride, you get what I mean). i think this was the first time i had ever partied with my brother on this level. at least, we had never done the russian kicking cossack dance together before, and well, my brother split his pants, so it must have been good. all of you who have my facebook can see the pictures, and giggle. i wrestled two people, won once, jumped on my dad, and had a rowdy time. but hey, its a russian wedding, what do you expect. although interestingly enough, more tequila was drank than vodka, which i guess is a sign of our slow but sure personal development. as for the rest of california, i spent much of it eating. everything. sushi, steak, sandwiches, cookies, ice cream, bacon, everything. i gained 5 pounds. which is awesome. although to be honest, when you are as food deprived as I am, you begin dreaming about flavors, textures, everything, and when you finally get there, it's never how you imagined. i guess my mind makes better grub than professional chefs do, too bad i can't make it all materialize. but i did thoroughly enjoy all of my culinary excursions, so no complaints, and thanks to all who provided me company (you know who you are) . and after a week of running around like a mad man, i changed states, went to jersey, and kept on running. much of jersey was spent with my friends, the rest with family, some professors, and basically it was a hyper-social experience. it was interesting to see how little and how much things had changed in just a year, and it was definitely a trip, in all the different meanings of the word. i also ate a lot in jersey, more sushi, fat sandwiches, pizza, subs, everything. if you don't know what a fat sandwich is, well go to new brunswick, and you can ask around, and have the most incredible heart stopping eating experience in existence. i won't even go into it, because words can not do a fat sandwich justice. only a fat sandwich can do a fat sandwich justice, and even then, if you dont finish it, you haven't reached true enlightenment. i even got to see the shore, which was just as guido as i left it. the most interesting and, at the same time awful part of my trip, was my realization about the USA that can only come after living a year abroad in the developing world. the word waste is not even sufficient to describe it. just look at an in-flight magazine, the one with all the shopping, and you will know what i mean. who really needs a nose trimmer/laser pointer/spatula combo? or a garden gnome that also doubles as a cooler/stereo/laser pointer. all the things in there seem to have lasers, so maybe thats a trend i missed while i was away, but still. you get my point. who the fuck needs all that shit (sorry for my language, but i really am that concerned). people live with so much more than they need, more than they even want at any one point. it's as if everyone is constantly buying just in case, like, just in case you need a garden gnome with a laser pointer, you never know right? and everything comes triple packaged, double sealed, with a box around a bag (mom, you'll get that reference), and in the end, you don't even need the thing. and it's worse than that. i have come to honduras to help with development, but i look around here, and people dont nearly do as much damage as we do back home. so they throw garbage out of the bus windows, we have a garbage dump the size of texas floating in the pacific. and that's just one example. in the states, we have access to so much, so much that could be diminishing the impact we have on climate change, ecosystem degradation, and we do nothing. i know that this is a cliche argument, and every environmentalist and his grandmother have said it, but the true understanding only comes when you leave. when you see how other people live, and think. how can we encourage development, with a clean conscience, when we ourselves don't practice what we preach. i guess its pre-emptive, we are trying to prevent the creation of more USAs. and maybe that's not so bad. but then the question comes up, why don't we do something about it at home? why don't we make everyone put solar panels on their roofs? or make everyone drive a hybrid? or require snack companies to use less bags per bag (you know what i mean by that)? or create more co-gen plants, or some other garbage management system that actually works? or plant more trees? or clean our water, our air, everything? what the fuck? and to be honest, i could rant for hours, but instead i'm going to go and read, learn, and maybe actually change one of the things i mentioned. you never know, someone's gotta save the world right?