Coming Home
Many of you already know that after purchasing a small ranch in Texas, we have moved back to the United States.
Thus far, now that the hurdle of another international move is behind us and work on our house is gradually transforming it into a beautiful, home, I’m finding the transition has been easier than I imagined. While I have to drive a minimum of ten miles for emergency groceries and fifty or sixty for everything else, there are no elephants, donkey carts, rickshaws, or massive traffic jams to circumvent. In fact, the roads are superlative and the majority of other drivers are easygoing and polite, even at seventy miles per hour. As I drive, I listen to books on tape and enjoy the sight of open fields and a wispy sky that covers every shade of blue.
The Internet and occasional international phone calls keep me in touch with wonderful friends all over the world. Life is easier “back home,” but I am always grateful for my time abroad and for the lessons and joys of that journey. Some say that life is a series of interconnecting circles; where we are at any time is perfect and an opportunity to grow, often in ways we never thought possible. This has certainly been my experience.
Because a largely global audience reads my blog, for the next few months I plan to share some of the observations of my own culture as they pop into my consciousness.
For nearly ten years, my focus has been on learning how to acclimate to new cultures. Because Texas is, in general, more conservative, rural and agriculturally oriented than the East coast where I lived until moving to Egypt, in many ways I am experiencing a foreign culture within my own culture. My goal is to share what I see as I did while living overseas. Feel free to leave comments or questions in the blog comment box and I’ll work hard to include my answer(s) in a new one.