Whichever Way the Wind Blows

So we’re back in the good old U. S. of A. We’ve been on American soil for a week now and it’s been pretty busy so far. Our first day back we crashed at a hotel near SFO airport. The next morning we met up with family and were treated to a lovely American style pancake breakfast, outfitted with way too much food and sugar. That evening we attended a good friend’s wedding in Sonoma, a beautiful wine country outdoors wedding. The following few days we decided to transition back to the fruit forward tastes of bountiful cabernet and crispy pear pinots and chardonnays. Coupled with some brie and water crackers made for some nice Californian welcome back meals. After getting our fill of wine and cheese we headed to San Jose to spend some time with family. We have been so blessed to have Brian’s brother and sister-in-law tending to all the little details of our lives while we were away in Africa. We have been enjoying these past few days with them and their adorable children. There’s nothing like a 4 year old knocking on your bedroom door at 7am asking if you will make another train layout like the day before. Or when asked why he is wearing three shirts backwards and his response is, “because when animals wear shirts they wear them backwards to make people laugh” it puts the world into an entirely new perspective.

In addition to all the fun we’ve been having transitioning back to the American way of life, we are definitely looking at this place with a new pair of eyes. As we venture out on the highway we notice the concrete plastered on the sides of hills made to look like natural rock. We can’t help but ask questions like, “is that the best use of tax payers money?” Wondering if there are other necessary services that can be provided rather than aesthetically pleasing concrete plaster. The lenses we put on every morning are tinted with visions of a developing country where half of the people have no running water or access to medical services. While sitting in a lovely library in San Jose we look around questioning all of the comforts placed in the Internet Café. First of all, wow, there’s an internet café. Furthermore, the same question persists, ‘is it all necessary?’. Coming from a society where basic needs are not met it is a difficult transition to enter one where more than all the needs and wants are met and exceeded. America is so rich in so many ways. The other day I saw a mother standing on the side of the road holding up a sign asking for money because she was recently laid off. I hate to admit that I found it hard to feel compassion for her knowing so many more that are suffering far worse than she ever will know. The thing is that it isn't that she doesn’t have it hard but this society does provide access to services that help those in need. I guess at the end of the day it is all relative but I can't help but know that I have seen the worst, probably some of the worst living conditions on the entire planet and until I understand or experience something differently here in the US, there are no excuses, we have means and access, there is always a way in America.

I guess we kind of knew and had been told that returning to the US would be interesting and perhaps challenging. We feel very blessed to live in such a prosperous country and be able to return to it but the greater question now on our minds is this, what are we going to do with all our abundance, access and knowledge? Well, that is still yet to be determined but we’re hoping to figure that out soon J. 

Until then, we thank all of our friends and family for welcoming us back and we can't wait to see you and catch up! Thank you for following our travels over the past year, it has been one amazing journey - now we'll wait to see which way the wind will blow us next.....