Aliens and Strangers "at home"

Strangers. Aliens in a foreign land.

Actually, citizens of this land... born and raised here... should be home, right? Hmmm. Sometimes it feels like home, and sometimes it doesn't.

We don't understand smart phones, smart cars, or smart anything else. We had to step aside and watch/learn how to use the video rental box thing. Same with the photo printing machine - we had to finally ask for help after spending several minutes trying to follow the instructions on the machine, only to be treated like we were complete idiots by the "customer service" girl. Really, a lot of our coming back transition has been very much like our first days after moving to Costa Rica and Peru. We do a lot of watching and trying to learn how things are done. Sometimes we look like fish-out-of-water to everyone around us.

We have spent time with friends and family as we visit and reconnect. Last week, we had the pleasure of spending time and eating lunch in the home of our good friends who were missionaries to South Africa for 8 years... oh, how special that time was! They completely understand our re-entry issues. They were able to really connect with us and speak some sanity into our confused feelings. This weekend, we had coffee (which turned into a 4 hour visit) with another missionary friend and a friend in ministry... again, we found peace and sanity and understanding in people who have also experienced the same issues. So glad that there are other "aliens" and fish-out-of-water that we can lean on!

This re-entry is difficult. If you see us at the store and we look lost, we probably are. If you see us in town and our eyes seem glazed over, we're just a little overwhelmed. If we seem confused or strange or out-of-sorts, just know that it's not you... we aren't sure exactly what it is, but it's probably not you. We can't really put our finger on it or name this feeling yet... we aren't tired, and we aren't depressed, and we aren't crazy... we're just here, trying to figure it all out. Be patient with us.