November 15, Back Home

I found out my flight itinerary at 3:00 pm on Tuesday. I finally was able to leave the PC office at 5:00 pm (after signing a myriad number of forms) and was picked up from Leah's around 7:40. I left Dar at midnight, arrived in Amsterdam around 7:00 am, immediately re-boarded for Detroit, spent 2 hours adjusting to American currency and airport prices, and then boarded another plane. I got back to Bangor at around 4:00. I slept for the first time in my entire life on the flight to Amsterdam--I was so exhausted that I was falling asleep in the waiting station before we boarded. Then I met this lovely woman that happened to be assigned the seat next to me. She is an RPCV who married another PCV while serving in Thailand back in the 1970's. Her daughter and son-in-law are also RPCV's who now live as ex-pats in Dar. She has a grandson who speaks Swahili and they know all the PC staff. She was great to talk to on the way over/through customs. I also watched three movies: The Avengers, What to Expect When You're Expecting, and The Five Year Engagement. Lot's of TV time--crazy for my brain. I haven't watched that much television in months and months.

On the way to Maine I sat next to another guy who was fun to talk to and get to know a bit. He was coming back from Peru and had on shorts--which was CRAZY to me once we got to Maine. IT'S SO COLD HERE. It's going to take a while to adjust. Seriously, though. FROST.

My dog is wicked excited that I'm home, and made sure to jump up on my bed by 5:00 am. That was okay since I woke up by 4:00.

So far for me it's pretty surreal. I got to see Eric last night, and I unpacked all my souvenirs. Now time to start adjusting and getting over jet-lag....I'm sure I'll post later about how the re-adjustment process goes. For now I'm sipping on ginger-tea and contemplating how I'm going to get proof-of-residency so I can renew my license before my birthday next week!