First Week Back "Home" in the U.S. (The "Eaten Post")

[Original post "eaten" by blogger. I tried to write the unsaved "itemized" part again below... It was started on Thursday 2/2, posted on Friday night, 2/3 and re-written/re-posted today, over 2 weeks since I got back]

Let me start by saying that even though I missed home a lot in my last weeks in Brazil (I even blogged about it), this time I was not happy to come back at all...

Back in March last year, when I came back from 2 months in Brazil, I had Spring to look forward to, with wonderful weekly visits to Longwood Gardens, warmer weather , a happy reunion with hubby and daddy. Our little family of four was getting back together after almost 2 months, and we longed to spend lots of time enjoying each other's company and anticipating the warmer weather that was to come. I had vegetables and herbs to plant, as well as my now blog famous morning-glories to look forward to.

This time, in addition to the cold, dreary weather (OK, as an aside, the weather has been unseasonably warm these days...), the prospects are not very good, as I have already whined enough about what this year has in store for me. But that's not really it, I mean, the reason for the unhappiness about returning. It's not that I dread having to work on the dissertation or anything like that (and, for that matter, I still have spring to look forward to, and my garden, they're just a little farther off in the future), it's just that I have come to the conclusion that I don't really like my life here, it's a mixture of living in "limbo" for too long (not good enough sallary, steady, "real" job for hubby, living in a place we wouldn't choose to live permanently, things like that) and other things. Actually, as I will further explore in posts relating some of my experiences in Brazil that I promise to write, we don't really have "a life"... or at least meaningful, intellectually fulfilling friends, social life, etc... [I just posted what I wrote in Brazil, as you already read]. This always hits me when I come back, but sometimes I am actually glad to leave Brazil and enjoy "the comforts" of living in "America"* again. (I missed my cell phone a lot. They do have cell phones in Brazil of course, but no nationwide coverage or free nights and weekends. In addition, my parents forgot their battery charger when we travelled...)

Well... the aim of this post was to update you on the things I have been busy with since we came back.

1) Cooking
I haven't eaten food cooked my myself in a regular basis in months (almost 5 months!!) so I was dying to cook. I'm a good cook, and I'm not very modest about this, I should say. My mom always says that I cook much better than she does (it must be tough for her to cook for me all these months, I do recognize). Anyway, the day after I got back I cooked several Indian dishes (I love Indian food!), and a few days later, I some Thai-style noodles. [I originally wrote about the food in more detail, but I just can't get it right again...]

2) Shopping
I not only had to buy food and other items to refill our refrigerator and pantry, but this year I had planned to shop for clothes for Kelvin for next year in the winter clearance, and I suceeded! Why spend so much more money in clothes when I can plan ahead and buy everything 75-80% off? So I bought him several corduroy pants, turtle-neck shirts, fleece pants and tops, sweatshirts, and a heavy winter jacket... I guess if I had a girl I might have to think about styles, but I have to say that I simply despise fashion and its trends - I think it's just a ploy to make people consume more and more. Consumerism creates such a waste of goods, and this country is all about consumerism (Brazil too, particularly where clothes are concerned - fashion is even more of an issue there!).

3) Sister-in-law and nephew's visit
The day I arrived from Brazil, my brother-in-law left for Germany, where he spent a week, so on Sunday morning, my sister-in-law drove from Maryland to our house to spend a few days with us. My nephew, who's 4 months younger than Linton, was missing his dad a lot, but he was immediately happy to be with his cousins. He loves older toddlers/kids, and he giggles just looking at his cousins. The weather was pretty nice on Monday (18 F - 60sF) and we went to the playground together. We also talked and talked about our time in Brazil, our families, etc. It was great to have her here until Tuesday night, when she left because my BIL was getting back on Wednesday.

As you already know... we had a week for ourselves and then my parents arrived (my thoughts on that in a future post). Now I HAVE to work. I'm going to post my To-Do list in my side-bar so I can be held accountable to my blog readers as well, what about that? Other fellow ABDs do that, and it seems to help them. Well, now let me post this, 9 days late, thanks to Blogger...

* OK, here I mean "United States of America", but I want to go on a tangent now... I have a pet-peeve about this continent thing. My non-American readers, may I ask you how many continents are there in the world (according to your grade school teacher/book/ whatever)? I was taught there are 5 - like in the Olympic rings: America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and "Oceania "(I suppose Antarctica was not included because it was not really "inhabited"). Well, well, well... the American friends I've made since I came here have always answered 6 continents, the sixth being South-America, of all things!!! I'd be slightly mad every time, and saying, "Hey, but the Americas weren't even separated until you build the Panama Channel!" This separation thing is meaningless, I know, see Europe/Asia/Africa, all linked - I'm perfectly aware that this whole continent thing is absolutely arbitrary, but still... I "can't swallow" 6 continents... My country is in America as well, we're all "Americans"!!
Edited to add: it was very amusing to read your comment, Alice!! I'll tackle the issue in another post, I guess. (and I'll add the comments myself, since I have them saved in emails).