I'm not an immigrant

I’m not an immigrant. Immigrants choose to leave their country to search for a better life. I am a political refugee. The US government forced me from my home, at pain of death. It watchlisted me, unconstitutionally. It put me under constant surveillance. It terrorized me using Infragard goons. It flew a drone over my home. And a helicopter. It weaponized CPS to try and take my kids away. It planted classified Ukraine documents on my computer to frame me for violating the Espionage Act. It violated the sanctity of my home by breaking in. Staying home, for me, meant death and false imprisonment.

I cannot go home again. All of my things that didn’t fit into my Suburban are gone. I miss my 5hp compressor with my air tools. I miss my family photos. I miss being in my childhood home. If I go home again, DHS and the FBI will be right back at it. And that means Infragard shooting automatic weapons outside our home. Terror.

They ordered my wife fired from her job at the Cleveland Clinic on bogus “national security” grounds. She was a nurse helping sick people during the COVID pandemic. She advocated for people with Type 1 diabetes. That is a “national security threat?” If she tried to get a new job, she would face the same end.

And so we build new lives in a foreign land. When we came to Latin America we knew no Spanish. In time, though, my family is learning. I can do transactional Spanish, such as ordering food, buying gas, etc. But rapid fire speaking is too much for me. I understand more than I can repeat back in Spanish. My wife is learning faster than me. She has always been good with languages.

I am still sometimes surprised when I look around and see palm trees, bananas growing on the tree, lizards running around, and have to watch that I don’t park under a coconut tree that is dropping coconuts. Ohio is cold, so I am used to it being cold most of the year. It was 91 F on Christmas here. It is bright and sunny every single day. That is good for the spirits. The flatlands are hot and humid. In the mountains, it is cooler, with fewer bugs. And nights are sometimes cold. The weather is literally perfect in the mountains.

I have never eaten higher quality fruits and vegetables in my entire life. One day, my wife bought two garbage bags full of vegetables for the equivalent of of $10 from a roadside vendor. They pick the fruit when it is ripe, and eating it fresh provides a flavor that is magnificent. Bananas that are fresh taste better than candy. If you are foodie, Central America is heaven. People eat a lot of chicken here, not as much beef. Sausage is common.

Life is an adventure. I am not a thrill seeker. I am more like a Hobbit who preferred to stay home. But the need to survive is a powerful motivator. I have found myself, strangely enough, among warm and kind people. I have found great beauty here. And so life sometimes gives us what we need, not what we asked for.