One moment our bags were packed for a quick trip to a neighboring country and twelve hours later we began planning logistics to return back to the States. Thankfully I had done some prep work after abruptly leaving for the States in July 2020 due to Covid so I printed off a checklist for how to pack up the house for monsoon and got to work. All the baby items we brought over three months ago were repacked into two fifty pound bags along with some of our winter clothing and camping items. Those were the only two bags we checked. I quickly emailed the birth center I had connections with in the States and got to work petitioning that they take me at 32 weeks which happened to be their cut off.
How the Lord has Provided
We’ve been in the States for almost three weeks now and the Lord has been so gracious in working things out.
House: a local fellowship had a furnished house that wasn’t being used for a month or so. We were able to secure it and move right in. We showed up to kombucha, beef jerky, and fresh flowers at our doorstep left by some friends of ours. Still need to move again before baby A comes next month but trusting in the Lord and his timing.
Car: My parents were 45 minutes from taking their extra car in to sell when we called and told them we were coming back to the States for a time. They said we could use the car and it has been such a blessing to land and have a vehicle right away.
Medical Provider: The birth center I want to birth at was excited to take me in, even though I was pretty far along and didn’t have all the records they would typically have because I was transferring care from South Asia.
Doula: We had a doula (someone who supports the mother during birth) lined up in South Asia so we knew we needed to start over and wanted to make it a priority when we returned to the States. Thankfully we met with someone locally already and feel great about the doula support I will be receiving.
A lot of life is transition.
And even more so expat life is full of change–friends, houses, seasons, countries just to name a few.
We returned to the States twice in a span of 11 months…
→ Last year we were unexpectedly in the states for 6 months due to covid and lived with family
→ Then we returned back to our host country for about 4 months.
→ We just unexpectedly transitioned back to the States and aren’t exactly sure when we will be back in South Asia (although we would love to go back as soon as we can).
Reverse Culture Shock Thoughts
This time things didn’t feel quite as dramatic since we had been in the States so recently.
- I wasn’t shocked when I walked in the grocery store but I was still in awe that bathrooms are stocked with toilet paper.
- I didn’t think about turning the hot water heater on thirty minutes before a shower but I was amazed that we can drink water straight out of the faucet.
- I wasn’t surprised to see people in shorts but it did take me a little bit to not feel wired in a non-baggy shirt.
It really does feel like two different worlds sometimes because America and the country we live in are just so different. We are thankful for friends and family who welcome us back and send us forth again, listen to our stories, and ask us questions even though it’s probably hard to relate.
