It’s been a little over a month since the family and I departed Mauritania, and minus a bit of training I had to do away from home, it has been and interesting experience.
I covered home leave rules and logistics a bit a couple of weeks back, but the reality of actually being back in the U.S. for a prolonged period of time with not much to really do is an interesting feeling.
One unique thing about this home leave is it is really just home leave for me. Angeli has already been back in the U.S. living and working fulltime since March, and my kids will be living here for the next year while I am in Myanmar. So for them this is permanently settling back into our house, where I am having the more traditional experience of getting reacquainted with the motherland.
It has been a weird experience. A nice reminder of being a homeowner happened immediately after we got back when our garage stopped working, and one of our AC units fried a capacitor in 108 degree West Texas heat. Unlike being overseas where we can just call the Embassy to come fix it, this one was on me, and I had to dig back into my list of trusted repair companies, who thankfully were all still running strong and got things back in working order almost immediately. Still, it was a quick readjustment to the real world.
With Angeli working everyday and the kids in summer programs, I also find myself enjoying a lot of grocery shipping and house prep. Our UAB got back to Texas almost at the same time we did, so that was nice having some crucial things, but being back in a land of plenty compared to Mauritania is really overwhelming. Honestly, compared to anywhere, American’s are spoiled with choice. If I want to go to the store to buy a loaf of bread, peanut butter, some eggs, or bacon I have over a dozen brand choices/types to choose from. In Mauritania, it was a single choice, and that was if they weren’t out of stock. In France or Spain, you might have a couple more options, but still nothing like the U.S.
Normally I’m a guy that is precise like a scalpel when I go shop, in and out in just a few minutes. However, during my first trip to a grocery store, I found myself just slowly walking the aisles in awe of all the options to choose from. I probably wandered for over an hour without adding much to my cart before a timely call from Angeli spurred me back to life. Since then, I still find myself coming up with reasons to go back to the store just to explore even though before we left to Mauritania, shopping was one of my least favorite things to do. Home leave is weird.
Otherwise, it has been lovely being home, catching up with friends and family, and otherwise just enjoying our Texas home. All the stars have aligned for my tour in Myanmar with visa in hand, flights booked, and housing assigned, so some of the stressors I had so close to before we left for Mauritania are non-existent, making these last few weeks with my family before I depart much more relaxing. It’s great being back home, but with home leave being a congressional requirement as part of my job, it definitely is weird. Cheers to more weird future home leaves! -Nick
