We got home to Brookhaven about 2 hours ago, and we are thrilled that our house does not appear to be robbed! (my not so secret fear, as I actually hid things that were irreplaceable at a friends’ house) :)
I am still confused as to how the whole time zone switch thing works, but all I know is that I am very tired and a bit confused! There were many legs to get us back home… 30 min. bus ride to the airport in Phnom Penh, 1 1/2 hr. flight to Bangkok, 3 hr. flight from Bangkok to Taipei, Taiwan. Then… an oh so, smelly overnight stay at a hotel in Taipei b/c China Air goofed a bit on our flight. 45 mins. to the hotel one night, 45 mins, back to the airport the next morning. Then… we flew 9 hrs. from Taipei to Anchorage, Alaska, then 6 hrs. from Alaska to JFK. Then 2 1/2 hr. on a bus from JFK to Biblical in Hatfield. Then 2 hrs. to Scranton, where we arrived just before sunrise on Wednesday a.m. and 2 hrs. tonight back home with our kids in tow!
In true American fashion… we needed to pick up a few things in the middle of the night back to Scranton, so of course we ended up at Walmart. Who else is open at 4 a.m.? Needless to say, it was a bit weird that the last store I was in when I left Cambodia had beggars in front of it, and the first I was in at home was Walmart, which is basically a monument to our American obsession with consumption, materialism, and choice.
Another odd thing that illustrates our globalized world… in our travels, I had Starbucks 2xs in 24 hrs. Once in Taipei, and once in Allentown at a service plaza. Oddly enough, I had the same blend in both places, and the decor was identical, but in Taipei I greeted the barista with a bow, and in Allentown I greeted the barista with a hello in English. If I accidently nod hello at you in the next few days, it is not the sympathetic head nod, it’s a strange compulsion from constantly bowing and head nodding which is customary with everyone I met or passed in Asia.
Thanks so much for all of your support, prayers, and emails of encouragement! We had an amazing trip! There’s a few more things Meade & I would like to share with you, so he will be posting them in the next few days as the jet lag wears off! Please check back so you can read them.
