We're Home!

For those of you that are still following our blog, I thought I would write to let you know that we made it back into the country on December 17th at about 10am. We have now had 2 days being in Lexington and it will definitely take some getting used to! We went to the mall yesterday, not knowing what we were in for; Super Saturday was overrun with people looking for last minute items for Christmas and I was unprepared for the hustle and bustle of this, now, foreign culture of mine. I purposely, all be it naively, thrust myself into the world of consumerism far to soon!
It is now 5:20am and I've already been awake for 1 1/2 hours; I can't seem to rid myself of the jet lag. Unfortunately for those that want to see me in the evenings, I am a miserable, worn-out mess by the time we get together. I get tired at 7pm and get up at 4am, this makes for a fabulous night person!
Coming back has had its share of pleasures and heartaches; it has been great to see my friends and family, but something is different this time. I've heard people, after a trip of significance, say that after their trip they felt profoundly different and wished that others could understand, but now I know it first hand. I feel vastly different from the man I was prior to my leaving, but I come back to a home, aside from the blanket of snow, that feels largely unchanged. This incongruity has been a challenge and a burden for the last two days. I know I'm newly back to the culture in which I left, but I can't help feeling an emotional pull for the other side of the world.
With that said, this transition back into American life has been harder than I expected, but I think my anxiety is abating slightly each day. I can't expect to jump between, literally, two contrasting fields of vision without certain repercussions. I have been encouraged, however; the sweets here are much more to my liking!