Adjusting. . . .

Many people might think that is it strange to have to readapt to your home country but I am here to tell you that reverse culture shock is real. We have been in the US for almost a month now and here are a few things that we have noticed…

1. Hot running water and electricity are NOT to be taken for granted. We have both at our house here in the US – fabulous! Two days after we arrived in Fort Wayne, we lost power for about 6 hours. We just went across the street to the church and plugged in the coffee pot. When someone said, you lost power for 6 hours, I said, yes, but we had power for 18 hours. We never get odds like that in Conakry!

2. The microwave is also not to be taken for granted. I am not sure you can imagine the joy of reheating something in the microwave. In Guinea, everything has to be reheated in the oven or in a pan. However, while I LOVE the microwave, apparently there is some measure of talent to making microwave popcorn. I have burned every single bag I have made. And I don’t mean that it was a little brown – I mean smoke rolling out of the bag kind of burned! But I persevere – there was also a time when I could not bake a potato in the oven and I have conquered that!

3. No matter what time of day, or where we go, there is always gas at the gas station. It might be pricey, but it is always available and it is still cheaper than what we pay in Guinea!

4. The roads here are SO smooth. When we first got here, my in-laws were with us. I usually had my father in law or mother in law sit in the front with Jim, so I took one of the back seats. I was SO nervous because we have car insurance through my parent’s policy and I was CONVINCED that Jim was speeding around at break neck speeds and would surely be caught by the police – causing the insurance rates to sky rocket because of his speeding ticket.

As it turns out, he was really only traveling at 30 – 40 miles per hour – which I discovered when I started sitting in the front seat, where I could nonchalantly peer over at the speedometer and check what he was doing. (Notice that I did not cry out "SLOW down!" or nag him incessantly, which I was considering doing but kept my mouth shut. Does that make me a Proverbs 31 wife????)

5. There is an incredible amount of food in this country! Seriously, EVERYWHERE you turn, there is food. And most of it is not that great for you. Amazing! Glenbrook Mall and Jefferson Point are like a gauntlet of fat and cholesterol – and it SMELLS great.

6. Not only are there a plethora of restaurants and grocery stores – there is also just a whole lot of meat walking around our neighborhood. We see tons of big raccoons, plump squirrels, juicy rabbits, fat geese, and muskrats. I am fairly certain that we could feed our entire village with the beef that we see in just a 30 minute evening walk. It is INCREDIBLE. It is killing my hunter husband not be able to bag some of that for our friends in Guinea.

Most of the readjustment is fun and not too overwhelming. It has been so fun to see friends and catch up with people. But, wow, there is a lot that goes into reentry! So, next time you see some beef, or make microwave popcorn, think of us……