Burrito West Blog

Home is nice.

Our flight was... not pleasant but it got the job done and I am sitting at my desk with a Kitty asleep on my lap, and life is good.  We arrived in Vancouver in the early evening of April 1, took forever to get our bags and get a customs form we need for something we mailed home. We picked up the keys to our apartment from our friend and then went right to Kitty's foster home in the car full of suitcases. Kitty was pretty wary of us there, but once we let her out in our apartment and she had a look around, she was her old self - she knew she was home and we were suddenly not scary. Peter and I had chips and salsa which we have been fantasizing about for a few months now (Poland does not do salsa - if you ever see anything labeled as 'salsa' in Poland, run away from it). We are simple, easily pleased people.

We woke up on April 2 and I had my usual breakfast cereal, which I hadn't had for a year, and it was wonderful. Familiar things are so lovely. It's been a year of new things and strange things and man, new and strange kind of wears you down month after month and you find yourself dreaming of strange things like boring breakfast cereals and chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  We went for a walk - it was a perfect sunny Vancouver day. Cherry trees are in blossom and we walked along the seawall with all the joggers - haven't seen so many joggers in a long time - admiring the scenic scenery. We met Peter's dad in a cafe for coffee. Resumed strolling. Unpacked a bit. Cuddled with Kitty.

It is a really good feeling when you arrive home after traveling a lot and feel, without a doubt, that you've come to a good place. Vancouver is a good fit for us. And I say that even though today was grey and rainy and tomorrow will probably also be grey and rainy (etc. etc.). When you have been away for a while and you step out of the Vancouver airport and take your first breath of that clean cedar-scented air - it really is amazing. We are very lucky to live here - that is one thing all our travels taught us.

Last night I met up with some of my friends from UBC and it was so wonderful to be with them and hear their stories and discuss the things we like to discuss.... it is so hard to find like-minded people that you connect with, isn't it? I think I took my friends for granted previously, but a year of being unable to have complex conversations due to language barriers and just not finding like-minded people has made me really appreciate the intelligent, wordly, open-minded friends I am so lucky to have here. One of my vague 'things to do differently when I get home' plans is to spend more time with these great friends.

Monday I am back to work. That will be weird.