Notes On Being Home

I made it back to Boston on Wednesday night. My flights went incredibly smoothly as did pretty much all aspects of the trip. All of my stuff made it home, I didn't have to pay any extra baggage fees (despite all of my bags being overweight) and I got all of my souvenirs back, despite some of them being large and awkwardly shaped (I did get to put all of my stuff through the metal detector on the way out of customs because of that). And during my four hour layover I even ran into a friend from PaP and a RPCV from Guinea, so we grabbed some dinner together which was nice in helping to kill a little time. Here, in no particular order, are some of my thoughts/observations on being back in the US:

-It is very, very cold here. I came inside two hours ago and still haven't taken off my down coat.
-Being able to drink the water that comes out of the tap makes brushing your teeth a much less daunting task.
-Having reliable and nearly unlimited hot water makes showering amazing.
-The air here is DRY!!! My skin started freaking out more and more the closer we got to Boston even on the plane. It remains very, very dry.
-After not having been sick in a long time I have already caught and gotten over a cold. In about 48 hours.
-Being able to effortlessly communicate with strangers is great.
-People like to make cholera jokes.
-People assume my experience in Haiti was awful and horrendous.
-I don't crave American food post-Haiti like I did every time I visited from London. I ate like a king in Haiti whereas in London....well, it was a bit more difficult.
-Fast internet is great.
-Being able to walk around freely is great.
-Having to worry about what would happen if I got hit by a bus tomorrow because I don't have health insurance in the US is not great and is not something I think anyone should ever have to worry about. Score one for the NHS. Get it together, USA.
-Seeing friends and family again and knowing I have more than 2 weeks to cram all of my visits in with people is really nice.
-Watching the Patriots games at home is awesome!!!
-I have a very, very supportive fan base at home. And I feel very lucky for that.

I'll add onto the list as things come to me. But for my first 48 hours at home I think I'm doing pretty well. I'm hoping to finalize some tickets to India in the next few days, so wish me luck. I'm very excited at the prospect of this trip.

If you're in the home area, get in touch! I have the same old phone number as usual.