Well, if you haven't heard yet, my wife and son and I are back in the good ol' US of A. We returned on January 6th into Chicago for a night with my uncle and aunt before we went on to Springfield for a couple weeks. Following that we went to Louisville for a night and were able to view some apartments before we went on to her parents in East Tennessee.
It's a mix of emotions being back after a little more than 2 years in Spain. I miss my friends there but it's really nice to be around our families again too. Next week we head to North Carolina to visit her brother's family of 5 and so all the cousins are looking forward to meeting baby David too.
And it's just nice to be around good people again. Maybe I should specify, being around good Christians is so refreshing. We had Christian friends in Spain of course but very few and far between. Here there's a church on every corner practically which can have its own problems of course. However it's nice to worship in our heart language and talk to really good people. I know that's vague but sometimes we really just missed what we view as common courtesy here, looking at people and saying hi when you're in the store or walking on the street for instance.
What's weird is the difference in the size of cars here. SUVs and pickups galore compared to mostly station wagons over there. I think the main reason is the cost of gas between here and Spain. At one point I calculated the gas price was the equivalent of roughly $5.25/gallon. So cars like SUVs and pickup trucks aren't nearly as popular obviously. Almost every time I'm in a parking lot (looking for our own SUV mind you) it strikes me as weird. I mean, what is an SUV except simply a station wagon raised up a bit, right? Am I the only one who sees that? :)
Reverse culture shock hasn't hit me nearly as hard as I anticipated so that's been a nice relief. I'm sure it'll come in waves like it normally does but for the time being it's just been a nice time of decompression and rest for us as a family. Coming back to my parents' place and then her parents' place has helped a lot too. I think if we had moved straight to Louisville it would've been a lot harder on us.
So, being home has just been nice to be honest. I was really dreading it as reverse culture shock has been really hard in the past. But this time is different. Maybe I was more ready for the good side of things than I expected, not really sure on that.
Blessings to all of you who live in the states or wherever else on this day!
