Home at Last

I bet you thought I'd never write my wrap-up of this Zimbabwe journal. Luckily, I made it home in one piece without major back or neck problems from being shoe-horned into economy class. The flight back was more uncomfortable than the flight over, partially because I was ready to get home. The 25 hours was quite long, and I only dozed for about 2 of them. The rest of the time, I watched movies on the personal screens that were at everyone's seat.

The people around me were more talkative than when I came over to Zimbabwe. The girl next to me was an American who just made the decision to move to Jo'burg to be with her trauma surgeon boyfriend. She's giving up everything to move over there and be with him. She's going to try it for six months and see if she can do it permanently. I can't imagine doing that, not even for Richard. To permanently give up living in my home country? I love my country too much to do that, especially in Africa. Now, if you're talking Europe, that could be discussed. She had even been robbed at knife point the day before, and she still wanted to come back to Jo'burg. For her sake, I hope it works out. This girl had also been on a Concorde that almost crashed, so she was heavily drugged for the flight back to Atlanta. She slept much of the way, for which I am jealous.

When we finally touched down in Atlanta, it took an hour to get through customs. I am grateful that I could be in the American line, because the non-American line was three times as long. I finally made it to the baggage claim and picked up my bags intact. I didn't have to look hard to find Pat and David waiting for me. They drove me home, gave me my keys and phone, and dropped me off.

I called my mom and grandma first. Richard had called while I was in the truck with Pat and David, so he knew I was home already. The conversations were short, b/c they knew I wanted to get to sleep. That's exactly what I did too...sleep until Richard came home. I did get up around lunch time for some food, but otherwise, I was zonked out.

The transition home has been pretty easy. It was like I'd never left, which was strange. I enjoyed having a hot, long shower, a toilet that worked, and air conditioning. Jackson seemed bigger to me than before I left, but he and Emma were fantastic. Emma's bald spot is now gone thanks to the melatonin treatment she started in July! I was a little disoriented in my car the first trip or two, as I'd gotten used to the English way of driving in Harare (i.e. on the "wrong" side of the road).

Work hasn't been bad. Apparently, the reviews of my time there have been very good, so everyone is quite pleased. I may even get a bonus out of it. Leo has approved my vacation in December to go to Hawaii with Richard, so that trip is now set. I'll have plenty to work on here while Leo is in and out on leave throughout September.

I'm glad I went to Africa, but it sure is good to be home.