From our “Home Sweet Homes” back to our “Home Away from Home”

Jess writes:

As a brief primer: Adam and I recently took the very long 40+ hour round-trip route home to spend some much-needed time with family and friends, and to be a part of a very special wedding! Oh, and did I mention that this trip also gave cause to enjoy some of the finest luxuries in life… namely, running water, a toilet? Ahhhhhh… As a previous post mentioned, we were in the gloriousness that is our “Home Sweet Homes”. And yes, two of them, the Midwest one (with our two, amazing families and many, amazing friends) and the East Coast one (with some of my oldest, amazing friends)!

And how was the visit back?? For lack of a better string of words: unimaginably, indescribably, unmistakably, ummm, incredible! :-)

To begin, we crammed our first weekend with as many parties and get-togethers as humanly possible: first, a much-needed Mexican dinner with both families to celebrate “Christmas in August” (ahhh… Mexican… and Christmas!!)! Next, an always-crazy-and-awesome Duffy’s Night with the whole Duffy’s crew and of course all our amazing friends from every corner of the Midwest, including those that drove in from the Chicago suburbs, Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio (you are all awesome!)! Followed by a thoroughly relaxing day by the Aleksy pool with great food, drinks, and tons of family and friends from not only the Midwest, but also from California, Kentucky and Virginia (it wouldn’t have been the same without you!)! To round out the experience, we even fit in an educational day discussing our work with Peace Corps to Juniors and Seniors at St. Bede Academy, Adam’s alma mater (see an article about our visit in the previous post, titled, “In the News”). And finally, we topped it all off with a “Post-Weekend Partying Party” in the suburbs in honor of our good ‘ol “Tuesday Night (Wine) Tastings”!! (…okay, so that a specific Krajniak doesn’t feel the need to correct my blogging: I was sick for that last event, but Adam went… and can you blame me? I was exhausted!!) Whew!

The following days were filled mostly with family catch up time about the most important things going on in our lives – new houses, new relationships, new pregnancies, new jobs, new ups and some new downs, and so forth – for a full week of relaxed family time. Of course we talked lots about Peace Corps (it’s almost obligatory, right?), but what was best of all was hearing – finally in detail! – all that had happened since we had left. And to actually see people’s faces when they told us funny stories, or talked about plans, or just mused on the moments of love and life from the very full past months… something phones – and not even Skype – can ever fully capture. There were lazy mornings on the front porch and long afternoons at the lake house and all the while we found ourselves doing what one always does when you’ve been this far away from home for a while… looking around at the people surrounding you and thinking to yourself, “Yup, this is home.”

It was pretty much perfect. Just too short.

And then we were off to my second of “Home Sweet Homes”… the oh-so-homey-because-it-smells-a-little-like-old-dirt-and-salt of Cape Cod. Ha! Everything about landing on the East Coast brings me back to what I love about growing up there and once I’m reunited with friends I very quickly revert to a slightly plumper version of my seventeen-year-old self, only now with margarita in hand!

This trip was also too short, but we managed to fill it too with plenty of friends and conversations: late-night discursions en route from the airport, old-time chatter in the back of a friend’s workplace, mass catch-all catch-ups at wedding-related functions and one-on-one laughter in the pre-shift midday. And of course, we did this all over as much seafood as we could possibly scavenge – seafood raviolis, fried calamari, clam and quahog chowder and plenty, oh plenty, of lobster!!

And I have yet to touch on the actual wedding itself – Kimme & Brian’s – in which I was a very high-heeled, champagne & mahogany, bridesmaid! It was stunning! And while I would have loved to have had the entire weekend to eat raw confetti cake batter with Kimme in our pajamas on the couch… *wink*… I was beside myself to see her – in her beautiful ivory lace, all smiles… and some tears – on the day that she got to marry Bri. I had jokingly told Kimme & Bri that theirs was the most we had ever paid for a wedding present (that, being the tickets home), but the truth is that not much would have stopped me from being at that wedding… not even the entire Atlantic ocean. (And both of our incredible families knew this as well, so all the thanks go to them for making the whole thing possible!!)

So… all in all, we had the very best of possible trips home: family, friends, and more love to give, receive, and be a part of than we could have ever asked for!

But, eventually, we had to get back on that plane…

And now we’re back in our new home, our “Home Away from Home”, as many of us like to call it. And while we would never trade in any of our experiences in the Peace Corps thus far, it is nevertheless difficult to come back after such a great, albeit short, trip back to those other “homes”. So our first days back have been long… and hot… and once again we are readjusting to bucket baths, and pit latrines, and fans that simply do not have a high enough setting.

In fact, in a phonecall the other day with a friend and fellow PCV, we were asked “So how’s the transition back?” I laughed to myself, as I pictured ‘Transition’ as this allusive medical condition that every PCV accepts upon entry to Peace Corps, a pre-existing condition of sorts, which every PCV must self-medicate and treat on a monthly, weekly, and sometimes daily basis. All these ‘Transitions To’ and ‘Transitions From’ that pop up like nasty allergies when you finally think you’re becoming immune to the local ailments… argh. “So, how’s the transition back?” she asked. “It sucks.” I answered, but with a laugh. “Yeah,” she replied, “It’ll take time. Geez… that’s gotta be weird.” Yes, weird it is.

But just last night someone from home – someone that can always make me smile – sent me some encouraging words to ponder, my favorite of which was a quote by Thomas Paine: “What we obtain too cheaply, we esteem too lightly; it is the difficulty that gives everything its value.” This reminded me somewhat of the slightly borrowed-and-altered PCV philosophy of, “What doesn’t kill you, makes for a great story.” I guess the truth is, none of this will probably kill us (except maybe the gargantuan millipedes) and while all these ‘Transitions’ are obnoxiously persistent, without them there certainly wouldn’t be any value in the stories that we will one day be able to tell about our time here. And most important, regardless of any of the difficulty, I wouldn’t have given up visiting home for anything – to share those stories we’ve already made here and to bring back ones that we’ve just been a part of – well, that’s worth the whole world right there.

We love you all… and miss you always.

Salani kahle!