Before coming back to La Paz I was homesick.  I missed my dog, I missed my family, I missed my friends–I missed these things so much that my heart actually ached.  I would think about Conrad sitting by the door at my in-laws house wondering waiting for me to pick him up after I got off of work.  I can explain to everyone else that I will be back–0r better yet, I can all them up on Skype and see pictures of them on facebook.  But how do you say to your little (ok maybe he is not so little) dog that you will be back soon?  You don’t.  You just hope that when you do see him again he doesn’t nonchalantly walk up to you, pee on your leg, turn and walk away.

We have been in La Paz for seven days.  We said good-bye to Bryan after eating the most amazing Chinese food in the world.  We said hello and good-bye to our great friends on Tenacious Grace–Brad, Lisa, and their two children.

On a side note, Brad and Lisa are from Alberta, Canada.  They live closer to the North Pole than the equator.  When we asked them about buying suntan lotion in Mexico (because it is about $15 a bottle) they looked at us like we were crazy.

Lisa: You guys wear suntan lotion?

Me: Yes. All the time.  You guys don’t?

Lisa: No.  We never do.

Nancy:  You have been sailing for a year and you don’t use sunscreen?

Lisa: Oh–I do put it on my nose.

Those Canadian’s and their government provided health care!  I applaud you Bran and Lisa.

During this time I have also been able to finally get comfortable on Oblivion.  There are 68 storage areas on board and I dug through all of them when I was looking for my backpack (which I did find Jenny).  It was easy because they are empty for the most part. I know we have a lot of extra space to put stuff–but in terms of  “stuff” there isn’t really anything that we need.  Food, clothes, books and computers–that’s about it.  There are items that I will need to replace or re-stock up on before coming back this fall (lost another pair of sunglasses on this last passage)–but nothing major.

The past 7 days also allowed me time to run on the malecon, see a movie, do some yoga, read, and catch-up with people.  The time allowed me time to get comfortable with life on the boat and life away from home.  Don’t get me wrong, I still miss friends, family and Conrad–but not to the point of my heart hurting.

I guess that is why this place is called The Peace.