I'm at my new job at Clemson University and thought I might continue to update folks about our transition back to the US via my blog. A lot has happened since I left Rwanda. After landing in New York, I spent a single week catching up with people and tying up loose ends before moving to South Carolina. I finally found out why I lost 25lbs while abroad! I had amoebas and worms! I am now de-parasitized and am gaining weight at a steady rate! I miss my little parasites a bit now because I can't eat whatever I want anymore! But my stomach is happier.
We drove the kittens from NY to SC over a long weekend and made the Clemson Day's Inn our new home for the next week while we scheduled and then cancelled FIVE closing dates for our new house (Thanks USAA!). Apparently the real cost of getting a low mortgage rate from them is your sanity and several years off your life. I started working at Clemson and was still living in the hotel. The closing FINALLY happened and we moved in just after Thanksgiving. We lived in the house for half a week and then packed our bags and left for New Zealand! I had a conference I was presenting at in Auckland so we boarded the flight for another 22 hour trip across the world. It was amazing to see New Zealand. It was beautiful and Okan was ready to move there. I think I prefer Queensland more than the north island of New Zealand, but I still really enjoyed the visit. We ate some lovely seafood and fresh summer fruit and my friend Amanda (from Sydney) came over and visited. All in all it was a terrific trip.
On the flight home I heard that my Aunt had unexpectedly died (well, unexpectedly to me! Seems others knew of her decline). She had end stage Alzheimer's and I was very sad that I didn't get a chance to see her before she died or while she was still cognizant. We arrived back to the US on Wednesday. Returned to work on Th-Friday, and then drove to Rock Hill for the funeral that weekend. It was nice to see some of my family, albeit for a sad occasion. Rock Hill didn't look anything like I remembered it as a kid- it was huge. Much bigger than Clemson!
After returning to Clemson, I had one week of work and then a quiet Christmas at home with Okan. We didn't really celebrate so much as use the time to unpack! We are still unpacking and it is several weeks later! Since I hadn't acquired any leave because I was new at my job, I worked through most of the holidays which wasn't so bad because it was quiet. We spent the next weekend in Raleigh visiting Okan's sister, husband and our niece and nephew. It was really great to see them after a year.
We visited my good friends Chris and Andrew, and their 15 month old boy (Rafael) in Athens last weekend. It was really good to catch up with them and visit. I'm hoping Chris and I can collaborate on a toxicology project I have brewing here. I am back at work and both Okan and I are extremely busy playing catch up after our move and year abroad. I have two new projects in the works here in Clemson, plus I still have several other projects I need to write up and finish (including my work in Rwanda!). Our days are still a bit of a whirlwind but we're hopeful that things will settle down later this month. Actually, February 1st we head to Jekyll Island (Georgia) for a four day conference! So maybe after that trip we will settle down a bit. But we are excited to have our next few weekends free so we can continue to unpack and make the house a bit more "homey". The kittens love the new house. They can go upstairs and sit and watch all that goes on downstairs from a safe distance. We bought Zoe a "walking jacket" (aka a harness) and we are training her to walk outside, which she has enthusiastically embraced. Today she got very close to her first bird and she was very excited! Lola is too nervous to venture anywhere outside yet and she prefers to watch Zoe from the safety of the door. I'm pretty sure our neighbors will think we are crazy once we get zoe walking more outside, but since our other cat Celeste got hit by a car, we've promised to not let our girls out alone by themselves. So walking them seems like a good compromise. Right now, Zoe sits by the door in the morning and meows. So we put on her jacket and do a 15 minute walk about until she gets spooked by a dog or noise, and then she seems happy to stay indoors the rest of the day.
Ok, more later!
