The Joys of Being Home

Hi Everyone,
My trip from Prague to the US was pretty smooth. There were four legs to my trip--which makes for a very long traveling day. I was on the go for about twenty-two hours all told. And boy, did I feel every one of them. 

The last leg of my flights was late in the night on Thursday (which would have been Friday morning in Prague). The flight was completely full--hard to believe that late at night. My seat mate was a guy who wasn't too tall or huge, but he was one of those guys who has no conception of personal space, and who takes up all his own space, and yours, too! That was annoying, of course, but something I've learned to deal with when traveling. 

The worst part about sitting next to this guy was the snack he chose to bring on the plane. It was salami, which I've come to enjoy in the Czech Republic, but the salami of my seat mate smelled to high heavens. That salmi actually smelled like road kill that's been out in the sun for about ten days! I was feeling pretty nauseated from the long trip--and then to have this road kill salami being eaten next to me...I thought for sure I was going to lose all I had eaten at supper. The stewardess brought me two ginger ales and I also put on my allergy mask, and had a barf bag ready just in case. I really felt that bad. To top it off the flight was a bit bumpy! Well, somehow I survived...here I am safe and sound in New Mexico once again!

It's been a year since I was home last, so there have been some issues with culture shock after complete immersion to life in Prague. The first awareness of culture shock for me was how huge everything is compared to Europe. Everything is bigger here in the US! The next thing that hit me was sensory overload from all the colors, lights and English that was bombarding me after deplaning. Prague has some colorful places, to be sure, but nothing like here in the US. And as for the language--in the Czech Republic I can pick out the Czech I understand and ignore the rest. The bombardment of English language which hit my ears was really overwhelming. Over the next few days I'll be able to ignore things that don't apply to me--it's only a matter of retraining!

Being back with my family is wonderful! I'm with my parents and my youngest daughter, and of course, with Pal and Jade (the pups)! Everyone is doing great and there's a lot to catch up on, even though we talk online every day. The mountains are as beautiful as they always are, and I'm enjoying this pollution-free air, the dryness and coolness that are found at high altitude. We are currently at about 9,000 ft--the air is rarefied at this height. It's great for my allergies and asthma...I'm getting a good drying out--just what the doctor back home recommended!

Back home, in Prague, Jiri, Pepa and Ota are all doing well!

That's all for today! Here's a link to a post about the Enchanted Circle of New Mexico, which is where our family home is located. I hope you enjoy the tour of the Enchanted Circle over the next few days! Also, I'm working on getting the rest of our pictures from Rome online. That is a task that will take some time as I'm using my old laptop and it's pretty slow. But I'll have these pictures up over the next few days!

You all have a great day!

God bless,
Sher :0)

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