Reflections from Newark

As detailed in the previous post, we have been in the U.S. for the last two weeks. This was our first visit back since moving to Spain nine months ago. What follows is a stream-of-consciousness journal entry of reverse culture shock from our layover in Newark when we first entered the country.

Friday, July 29
    Right away in the C concourse there's a tchotchke store called "AMERICA." Big eagle over the store sign, everything red-white-n-blue... wow. Ya no estamos en España (we're not in Spain anymore). Besides the fact that it's American stuff rather than Spanish stuff, it's that Spain is not a very patriotic country. You would be hard-pressed to find a store like that in a Spanish airport.
    It was strange to me to hear people cheer when the captain welcomed everyone to the "good old U.S.A." It was the cheer of folks glad to be home, and it was strange not to feel like one of them - this is our home in one sense, but the home where we put up our feet & relax is an apartment in Madrid. It's not necessarily that I feel more at him in Spain than in the U.S., but the coming-home place for us as a family of three is our piso, our neighbors, our grocery store, our swimming pool, and our regular routine.
    I spent a good chunk of the flight reading a couple chapters of Meggan's driver's ed textbook (I should sign up soon after we get back). Something I noticed in getting off the plane is that I understand every word on any sign - "it is advisable to maintain custody..." etc. Paragraphs like that in the driver's ed manual, I get the gist of it 98% of the time, but I'm not familiar w/ every word. Or take a restaurant name here - "Cheeburger Cheeburger" - I know instinctively that "cheeburger" is not a real word, but rather a shortened version of "cheeseburger" that one might say in a silly voice when one is particularly in the mood for said food item. In Spanish w/ something similar, I would look, think, ponder, maybe eventually figure it out (whether in seconds or in ten months), then feel particularly accomplished/proud for such a feat. (Example: there is a cell phone service provider in Spain called "yoigo," and months after our arrival, Meggan said, "hey, 'yoigo' is short for 'yo oigo' [meaning 'I hear']." Me: "ohhh...")
    Just look at that paragraph! I just rolled that off in English, and it felt so... fluent. Uff. Natural. Nuanced. It's very hard yet for me to do nuance in Spanish.
    Most chatter is in English, and that sounds weird (Sheryl warned us about this). Our language of common courtesy with strangers is English (this is a context that has only existed in Spanish for us for nine months, so that was a genuine adjustment). Airport personnel have been very kind.

Surprisingly enough, that was about the end of the reverse culture shock for me. Once we got into the A concourse and found out our next flight might be delayed, we entered into mildly-stressed-American-traveler mode. When we got to Wisconsin, even though we were seeing things that were abnormal for our recent experience, they looked like they "belonged" here (big SUVs, orange cones, cornfields, outlet malls, etc.). The remaining big "wow" moment for me the rest of the trip came when we were on our way to a family gathering. Our caravan with John was to converge in Princeton, Wisconsin, and he got there first. He called us with the most convenient meeting spot: "I'll be in the church parking lot with the signs for the gun show." A gun show in a church parking lot. Boy, are we ever back in rural America. :-)

Our unexpected Wisconsin visit

As some of you know, Meggan, Andrew, and I have made an unexpected trip to the U.S. for my grandpa's funeral. Today is our last full day here, and it has been a real blessing to be able to spend quality time with family. Before planning our trip, we wondered how long to come, whether our time here would be able to feel restful, and whether it would be okay for us to be here from the standpoint of continuing our healthy transition to life in Spain. After a good chat with Ed and Sheryl, we decided to make it a two-week trip, cancel our plans for Dublin, and make this our summer vacation. That turned out to be a very good decision. We have had a lovely time with both sides of our family, and I feel particularly refreshed. I also feel a sense of "we can do this" between now and the next time we get to see everyone, whenever that may be. Thanks be to God for a great trip.

Thanks be to God even more for the life of my grandpa, Bill Ward. He was a good man and a wonderful grandpa. A farmer, a family man, a servant, an intellectual, a craftsman, an historian, a lifelong learner. He was the most insatiably curious man I have ever known, and he was always willing to engage in a friendly conversation with a stranger who might be able to teach him something interesting. Grandma and Grandpa came along with our immediate family on numerous family vacations, and he always kept a detailed journal of each day's happenings. He continued learning new things throughout his life, from taking flying lessons at age 50 to picking up stained glass as a hobby in his latter years. I think it's time for me to put a little extra effort into learning something new myself - I've picked up the guitar again, and I'm gonna try to give it what it takes this time. We went through the journey of Alzheimer's as a family with him in his last years, and it is a comfort to know that he has been released from that disease. I look forward to spending time with the curious, loving man I knew when the resurrection comes. Here is the touching newspaper article commemorating his life.

We apologize for not being super open about our travel plans in advance of our trip. I hope you can understand that this needed to be a family-centered trip, and as such, we didn't spend any appreciable time with friends or ministry supporters. We appreciate your prayers for a good month of readjustment and planning back in Madrid before the ministry year shifts into gear.