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Jet Lag

Guess it's time to let you know where I'm at again. I just shut my brain off the past couple of days, and it was actually nice not to even think about posting to this blog. I certainly enjoy sharing with you what is going on when I'm in Shell or Sumatra, but there are days when one less thing to do is welcome. Today I'm feeling almost back to normal, and have had a couple good night's rest in my own bed. After being up for more than fifty hours during my trip back, and only sleeping on the airplane, the last three night's sleep have gone a long way towards helping me return to a normal schedule, and get over the jet lag. The past two nights my family would make comment at dinner, as they saw me fade away as I sat at the table. We'll see how I do tonight, and if I don't feel so wiped out at six or seven in the evening, then I'll be happy with that.

I was prepared to ride the bus home on Wednesday, but as it turned out, there was an MAF plane heading to Shell. I was more than happy to ride along, and I was the only passenger. After stopping at SuperMaxi for some peanut butter and celery, and then at the flower wholesale place for something for Ellyn, I was on my way. It was the last leg of a very long trip. Seven different air legs, for a total of over twenty-eight hours of flying time, spanning four continents, going from the steaming hot weather of Meulaboh, passing through thirty-two snowing degrees in Frankfurt, and then on to the high-altitude of Quito. The hour flight to Shell took me over familiar territory, and I was struck by just how much I feel at home in Ecuador. The thought came over me that I have only four months left here, and that I want to enjoy every minute of it. When we landed in Shell, and pulled onto the apron in front of the MAF hangar, there was my family. You can only imagine how happy and excited we all were to be with each other again.

The last two days I've been getting into the swing of things again--starting to work on my honey-do list of things that have happened while I was gone, checking on the network and computers at the hangar to see what I need to do, spending an hour at the creek in my kayak, putting things away and getting organized, and hanging out with the family. Meanwhile, I find myself constantly looking at my watch to see what time it is in Sumatra, and imagining what Jonathan and John must be doing as they run the Internet café there. Mostly, I'm trying not to be envious that they are there, and I'm not.