Without a Traceroute

I’ve been back in the US for almost two weeks now, and it still feels pretty strange to me. I’m not used to seeing people I know, to easily overhearing conversations going on around me, to being able to read menus effortlessly, to not standing out as a gringo or a foreigner.

Getting back from Brazil involved a one-hour flight from Rio to Sao Paulo, an hour+ bus ride (in Sao Paulo traffic) from the Congonhas domestic airport to the Guarulhos international airport, four hours waiting, a six-hour overnight flight to Mexico city, and finally five more hours to Chicago.

The transition from “near-absolute freedom in Rio de Janeiro” to “my parents’ house outside Chicago” was rather jarring. Luckily for me, the airport in Mexico City is basically like a American colony created to ease the transition. There is a Starbucks, a Carl’s Junior, a 7-11, an Angus Steakhouse, and no actual Mexican businesses that I identified.

I had the following conversation with one of the very helpful information desk attendants. It began in Spanish, but he shifted to nearly-flawless English as soon as he figured out I was American.
<Spanish>
“Good morning, how can I help you?”
“I was wondering if there is a place I could get Mexican food.”
“There is a Chili’s on the upper level.”
“I’m sorry, my Spanish is very bad. I don’t mean food in Mexico, I mean food of the type that is typical from Mexico.”
</Spanish>
“You can get fajitas at Chili’s.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“See, I’ve just been in South America, and I really missed good Mexican food. There isn’t any real Mexican food at the airport?”
“Only Chili’s. Sorry.”

I took a pass on the airport Chili’s, but there are plenty of other things that are amazing about America: bendy straws, free refills, ice cubes in drinks, the Eisenhower Interstate System, In-N-Out, Chicago-style pizza, actual Mexican food, and 24-hour diners.

Being at home after traveling for so long felt kind of strange, so after about a week I beat it out west for Defcon in Las Vegas, which is where I am at the moment. The convention has been pretty cool, and I’ll try to write about that later. Sunday night, I’m hitting the road again, this time headed for the Seattle area for the returning Watson Fellows conference.