I haven't done much blogging since we came home but I have done a lot of processing. It took a lot longer to adjust to being home than I thought it would and in different ways than I had anticipated. It was easy-peasy for me to adjust to the vast quantities of things available to purchase and harder to adjust to how fast things were shipped to our house. (I had ordered many things online while we were in Peru and then waited months for them to be brought down by friends and family who were visiting.)
It was hard being behind on everything when we first came back (normal moving stuff like setting up utilities and unpacking) plus regular life adjustments. I didn't anticipate how hard it would be and how long it would take until the concept of bringing something to a potluck wasn't stressful or how that came in waves of ease (can't handle having to bring anything - ok to bring something I buy like chips or wine - I could manage to bring a side dish or dessert I make - and I'm almost back to I could bring anything you need!)
We are very nearly back into life in what I term "regular chaos." The basement is navigable. We have a pile o' stuff in one garage stall which falls into three categories. Give away, attempt to sell, and boxes to use for boxing up the giving stuff or be recycled. I need to finish putting stuff up on the walls. I feel ok about this given that everyone I know has some house project they are working on. I feel like I fit right in.
Still missing:
- My watch, which I remember placing somewhere about 6 weeks before we moved. My inner voice said that wasn't a good place. I told my inner voice I would of course remember where that was. I have no clue and didn't find it when packing up our whole house nor have I found it unpacking. Who knows. The new watch battery put in it shortly before our move is almost certainly dead by now.
- M's glittery flip flop sandals and A's cute bear sweatshirt. Both missing since we came home from family vacation, the day before we moved back into our house.
- Car fob, also missing since the day we moved back in.
Also missing: some kind of resolution about what our adventure meant, what I need to take from it here in the States, and some general processing and making sense of how it can/should impact how I live going forward. I was so busy with just trying to adjust to life here for a good six months I didn't have much time to reflect on the Peru side. While our experience is a constant thought for me (this is different than Peru. This is the same. I wonder what these people are doing now. 1 year ago I was...3 years ago I was....how long will this readjustment take? etc.) it's also not something I have had the ability to just focus on and process. I'm still glad to have had the opportunity and I'm glad to be back home again. But figuring this all out is going to take me just a bit more time.
