Is it weird being back?

I pause from chronicling the adventures of network building - while listening to Cardinals baseball and sitting on my friend Sarah's back deck on a lovely evening in Xenia, OH - to tackle the title question, both for everyone who's been asking and because I want to document the best answer I've come up with to-date. 

No.

No, it's not weird being back. I slid seamlessly back into many of my old roles, like that of auntie to my favorite nephew, and into frequenting my favorite St. Louis haunts. 

"Meet me at the Muny, the Muny in Forest Park!" I saw Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and On Your Feet. 

I bought Cardinals tickets on my phone while in line for the free seats at the Muny - living my best St. Louis life. If only I'd been eating Ted Drewes, too. The game was terrible, but the company was decent. 

But also yes. 

Yes, it's weird being back. 

In some ways. 

At my first host home, I instinctually started washing dishes after dinner without it even dawning on me that the dishwasher I was practically touching was a common fixture in homes in this country. And I'm wondering at what point I'm going to stop questioning myself every time I go to flush some TP. Here's a few other home service-related curiosities:

1. It's weird shirking normal work duties...only I'm not shirking them. I've gone days without checking my Outlook email, and I can watch meeting reminders come and go on my phone with zero guilt. 

2. It's weird making plans so far in advance. I feel obligated to, with so many people to see and so few days between road trips, but no self-respecting Latina books social engagements weeks in advance. I first messaged this crew of fellow short-term coordinators and friends about an August 25 dinner date at Fitz's on July 13. 

3. It's weird not knowing how COVID is being handled everywhere, specifically with regard to masking (or not). In the Dominican, the entire country does what the Ministry of Public Health decrees. Period. Here, it varies by state, county, and sometimes individual business. 

Soooooo...maybe? 

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. Until next time, blessings!