I need to get used to America

A mere 13-hours of travel later, and we're back in the States. Kiddo did not sleep AT ALL on the plane, which made for a long, long flight for all of us. But at least it's over; we're back.

I had wanted to write some kind of farewell post about Bosnia before we left, but just didn't make the time. We had such short notice before leaving that I don't think I was mentally prepared for our arrival back to the States and I've been experiencing a bit of culture shock. I keep assuming no one speaks English and after mentally bracing myself for the language barrier, I am then always very startled when we get a "hello" or a "how may I help you?" in return. I find that I gesture too much or make overly-long explanations because I'm so used to people not understanding me when I talk. And we often speak too formally than is customary when addressing strangers. People don't refer to each other as "sir," do they?

We went to a Safeway to get some diapers and their produce section made me feel a little weak in the knees because it was just so big. Have grocery stores always been that huge? I really can't remember. We went to the mall and a couple of other places and I had the same feelings. Everything is so big and there are so many different options for every little thing you can buy and it's all just so convenient that it's overwhelming. I know we were only gone a year, and it doesn't even seem like that long to me, but wow. I need to get used to America again.

Mostar

We decided on one last road trip before we head back to the States--Mostar, home of the famous "Old Bridge" on the Neretva river. (What? What do you mean you've never heard of it. It's only one of the most famous bridges in Bosnia and one of only two UNESCO World Heritage sites in this country. Gosh!) The original bridge was more than 400 years old. Sadly, it was destroyed during the war--we watched footage of its destruction at the bridge museum, which was a little disturbing--but its duplicate was built in 2004.



During the war, the front lines between the Bosniaks and Croats ran through the middle of the city. Like many places in Bosnia, the signs of war are still very evident.



Even today the city is ethnically divided, with Bosniaks on one side of the river and Croats on the other. As we have often thought when wandering around Sarajevo, it's too bad the war has destroyed so much that was once beautiful in this country. We can't help but wonder what it could have been like if the conflict had never occurred.

A Change in Plans

When we found out that we would be spending almost a year and a half living abroad, most of that time in Bosnia, we discussed what scenarios could occur that would cause us to come home earlier than expected. The reasons that we considered most often were:

1. Financial: Either we misbudget, misspend, or a large unforeseeable expense occurs.
2. Physical Well-being: One of us gets sick, hurt, or (gasp!) I become pregnant.
3. Personal Safety: A war starts. (We are in Bosnia, after all.)
4. Immigration Issues: We get kicked out of the country because the bureaucratic process is so ridiculous that we can't get a resident visa without someone's boss calling someone else's boss. (Not that we have any experience with that.)

Little did we know that the actual reason for us going home early (yes, you read that correctly!) wouldn't be any of those things.

In a nutshell: work picked up at Brandon's firm and they needed more people.

Pretty anti-climatic, but there you go. We are suddenly headed back to the States much, much sooner than expected. It's a little bittersweet to be leaving Bosnia so early, but we're also excited to start something new. Again. Because evidently it is impossible for us to live in the same place for longer than six months.

And to be on the safe side, we're looking into DC apartments with short-term leases.

Kiddo's Summer Haircut

Kiddo had a not-so-great haircut last week, so we decided it was time to buzz his head for the first time in his short life.



Is it me, or does my two-year old suddenly look much older?