Home Again and heavily Jetlagged

We returned on Friday evening from Singapore (that’s a non-stop 18-hour flight to Newark, a 3-hour layover, a 36-minute flight to Boston and a 30-minute cabride to Brookline… it tires me out all over again, writing this!). Singapore, by the way, is 13 hours ahead of Boston.

The last two nights Amie has been waking up at 2 am, to play and chatter, wide-awake, until 5 am, when we can “force” her to sleep. About the jetlag, one thing is for sure, that coming  back to the States is harder than going to Singapore: it’s easier to will yourself awake, to keep Amie up and to regulate a short mid-day nap when you arrive in the early morning, than to will yourself and to get Amie to sleep when you arrive in the late evening. The two of us slept for perhaps 4 hours during the trip, but Amie slept more, so we’re not on the same track.

First up in terms of shock was the weather: moving from sultry Singapore to cold and blustery Boston was painful, especially since we missed the run-up to winter.

Second, our basement flat felt warm and cosy, but so dark compared to the 22nd floor where my parents-in-law stay. And it was, most of all of course, empty. Amie doesn’t talk about them not being here with us, but she calls them up on her “phone” and has long conversations with them, so they are on her mind.

And I dislike unpacking, dealing (or not) with the stuff and junk and laundry, the food gone bad in the fridge, the lack of milk for a comforting cup of tea.

Clearing away the junk, shopping for food, and cooking are the best ways to settle back in. Today I cooked a hearty leek-and-potato soup and also “Gentse waterzooi”: a chicken soup-stew. Recipes and more about our trip soon!