So, there it is, 4 months in Poland are now complete. Woke up at 3 AM (but it was light out when we took the taxi at 4 AM) on Wednesday. The first part was quick (check-in and security). We had tea and coffee at the airport and then took our first flight from Warsaw to Amsterdam. This was quick and we were given a couple of little sandwiches: one had mystery meat with butter on grain bread (weird since I am not a processed meat lover or butter fan) and curried egg salad on brown bread (not bad). We were later given biscuit cookie sandwiches with caramel filling (also not bad; the biscuit part tasted a bit graham cracker-like and the caramel was mainly just sweet). On this flight I read some of my Oprah magazine. The layover at Amsterdam was short. We flew from there to Paris (Charles De Gaulle) and had a selection of baked goods at one time during the flight (I had a regular croissant, but there were also pain au chocolat - chocolate-filled croissant - or some kind of pastry that looked to have maybe nuts and apple? from which to select), which looks a lot nicer since the last time I was there (there are fewer renovations and the complete ones make the airport look better, but it is still not an easy experience since the layout is confusing and the security check is annoying). At this airport, I had a chance to go to the airport lounge for frequent fliers. This lounge is nicer than the only other one I had seen (which is also very nice) in Detroit. I had some good fruit salad, canned Pellegrino, and a little vegetarian sandwich (all tasty). This longer flight from Paris to Philadelphia was not as nice an experience as my last transatlantic flight. There was a baby that cried a lot and a little boy (probably her brother) moaning, while a few other people were strange and/or difficult and/or complaining a lot. We each had personal TV screens in our seats, which was nice. I watched Tron: Legacy (I liked it a lot, or maybe it was just the nerd in me having a fun time for the Daft Punk music and video game-like aspects... who knows), The Green Hornet (only for Christoph Waltz), Samantha Brown's Passport to Great Weekends: LA, an episode of The Big Bang Theory, some of Biutiful (I was falling asleep, but was not successful taking a nap when I turned the movie off because the baby was crying and I was not comfortable) and some of the pilot episode of The Borgias. Pretty sure there was a girl who had been on America's Next Top Model on this flight. After we made it through all of the security, customs, and passport checks in Philadelphia, we picked up our luggage and our car before a drive home (I slept through most of it), making it back at almost 10 PM. I had been up almost a day (or more for others).
Today is relax day. Last night, I went to bed regular time (around midnight) after going on the Internet and watching some television. This morning I woke up early because of my weird sleep schedule (nap in car and going to sleep before, plus not being used to time change and jet-lag yet) and our cat's meow cries on-and-off from early this morning until early this afternoon (he is so needy and was lonely I guess :-P silly boy - but also looking older and bigger). I am caught up with Community as of this morning, but made a list of other shows and movies to catch up on. I also have two more papers to complete the next couple of weeks so that I will then really be on summer vacation. Too bad the weird phone call from an army recruiter earlier this afternoon did not know he was calling someone without interest. :-/
Being back in America is still very recent. I will reflect more on being back, my time abroad, trips, and the future soon. For now, I will relax and finish up the work for the spring semester before looking too far ahead or behind. One recent thought is about persons, places, and things I miss. It has been strange being home without our dog Maggie, but not much else seems different yet. I also know that a trip in the next couple of months to California sounds very exciting. :) I will soon begin planning activities for the summer, such as deciding places to go and books to read and things to do. I just have to fit in some time for my work on Polish before it escapes me and to learn more. In the near future, I will be watching The Hangover Part II and X-Men: First Class (maybe).
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