It's BIG!
So, took only 24 hours to get back to America. Yah. Turns out, the airport customarily searches through everything in your first port of entry. Turns out Utess, our travel agency, booked me from Casablanca to Seattle through Frankfurt and Portland, which gave me a 2 hour layover in Portland with a 25 minute flight to Seattle. Turns out that isn't enough time. So after 3 1/2 hours I was booked on the next available flight, arriving into Seattle at 1800 instead of at 1430. But the guys searching at the airport were very kind and helpful.
It's hard though to talk to people on the street. If they're strangers, I must mentally remind myself to speak English. But I'm used to automatically only greeting strangers on the street- not talking to them anymore than I must. I find I am still preparing myself before a conversation- reviewing everything that I will say before hand so I can make sure the Arabic comes out smoothly, and therefore not getting into conversations unless I need to. So I am not interacting with most people that much, simultaneously suprised that they speak English but subconsciously assuming that they can't.
Yesterday I started catching up on movies I've missed, and went to the local Safeway to rent Aeon Flux, Pride & Prejudice, and Flightplan. (Flightplan was quite good.) It's my first time in a Safeway in a year- Stacy informs me that the one in Gibralter has now turned into a British company. Which sadly might mean no more Dr. Pepper- the primary reason expats travel to Gibralter! (Yes, I've already had three of those so far since returning.)
Safeway is BIG! The items went on and on, and there were so many different kinds! And they had lots and lots of different kinds of candy, and real ice cream, and lactaid milk, so I can actually have cereal for the first time in a year! Oh- and real doughnuts! I had an apple fritter. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
It's hard though to talk to people on the street. If they're strangers, I must mentally remind myself to speak English. But I'm used to automatically only greeting strangers on the street- not talking to them anymore than I must. I find I am still preparing myself before a conversation- reviewing everything that I will say before hand so I can make sure the Arabic comes out smoothly, and therefore not getting into conversations unless I need to. So I am not interacting with most people that much, simultaneously suprised that they speak English but subconsciously assuming that they can't.
Yesterday I started catching up on movies I've missed, and went to the local Safeway to rent Aeon Flux, Pride & Prejudice, and Flightplan. (Flightplan was quite good.) It's my first time in a Safeway in a year- Stacy informs me that the one in Gibralter has now turned into a British company. Which sadly might mean no more Dr. Pepper- the primary reason expats travel to Gibralter! (Yes, I've already had three of those so far since returning.)
Safeway is BIG! The items went on and on, and there were so many different kinds! And they had lots and lots of different kinds of candy, and real ice cream, and lactaid milk, so I can actually have cereal for the first time in a year! Oh- and real doughnuts! I had an apple fritter. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
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Well, I leave Friday or Saturday to Newberg for Yearly Meeting- and to see Stacy while I'm down there. Then on the 25th drive down to see my mom. On the 27th take Greyhound down to Redding to go camping with Anne, a friend of mine, in Lassen Volcanic National Park. On the 30th head down to SoCal to visit friends and my dad and brother, until the 6th, when I head back up to Seattle. The only other thing planned at this point is a trip up to BC, Victoria Island, on the 17th-19th, for a reunion of my old commune.
I'm sorry, I don't think I'll be down by then, but I look forward to hearing about the race!
When I walked into the first Safeway on my return...YIKES! Big City/Bright Lights! Muzak! Aisles and aisles of packaged non-food! Whole aisles devoted to sodas! And unseasonal produce from all over the world! (You and Seth subsisted on brussel sprouts and broccoli...) I felt a little dizzy with all the choices. I learned to shop around the aisles...Now, in Ashland, I just head for the Co-op if I want to eat the way we used to.