If all goes as it should, I’m exactly 24 hours away from opening the door to the apartment on East 61st street in Manhattan where I grew up. I’m coming home.

As readers of this blog know, I’ve had an amazing four months here in Colombia. And I’m very excited to come back in January, to keep going with the life I’ve begun building for myself here.

But I’m so happy to be heading back to New York right now. As happy as I’ve been, and as much as I like living in Bogotá, I’ve missed New York–especially in the last few weeks, as my return has drawn near.

I tried to avoid being a New York snob (at least when talking to non-New Yorkers) while I lived there, but now, when I’m asked about my hometown, it’s hard not to gush. I love it so much, and I miss it so much now that I’m living far away and will be for a while.

Wonderfully, I’ll be home very soon. After landing tomorrow morning, I’ll quickly head down to Washington to spend Christmas with my mom’s family. Then I’ll be back in New York for a full two weeks, from December 27 to January 9, staying with my parents, seeing my friends, and showing Isabel my city, since she’ll be in town with me. And I’ll finish my U.S. tour with a week back in New Haven, reliving a bit of college before heading back to Bogotá in mid-January.

So if you’ll be in New York between December 27 and January 9, or in New Haven the first week of Yale’s spring semester, and you want to get together, please let me know.

Another time, perhaps, I’ll write a full essay of meditations on my identities as an American (not so strong) and a New Yorker (as deep as anything). For now, I’ll finish with this line from a recent New York Times op-ed by (the British-born) Tony Judt: “Chance made me an American, but I chose to be a New Yorker. I probably always was.”

Ditto. See you soon, New York and New Yorkers. And please do be in touch if you want to get together.