It started with the drinking fountain at the Chicago airport. It was the coldest, most delicious water we had tasted in a long time. We looked around and couldn't understand why everyone was actually paying for water in a bottle. We filled our stainless steel water bottles which became almost too cold to hold.
We're not sure if we will be able to come to terms with how expensive everything is here! The first morning at home, we were too lazy to go into the basement and look for our coffee maker. Bryan went to our local coffee shop in Plymouth. He paid $7.00 for a plain coffee and a caramel latte! Our entire meal for 7 people cost this much when we went to a local "restaurant" near Tenwek with the McLaughlins. Needless to say, we then went down to our basement and found our coffee maker.
After spending $10 on a salad from a carry-out pizza chain, we realized we could not delay going to the grocery store any longer. We usually like Trader Joe's but unfortunately it wasn't yet open for the morning. The next closest grocery store...Meijer's. Talk about reverse culture shock! The fruits and vegetable aisles almost made us pass out. The red, green, orange, and yellow bell peppers were so shiny and polished that we could see our own reflection. I kept thinking this is exactly how my parents felt when they first shopped in an American grocery store after leaving Vietnam in 1975.
We thought we would be prepared for the Meijer experience since every few months in Kenya we would drive in to Nairobi and shop at the Nakumatt. Nakumatt, like we mentioned in a previous blog, is a gigantic mega-superstore selling everything from food to home appliances. But Meijer's was hands-down cleaner, bigger, and more overwhelming. I almost lost Bryan in the laundry detergent aisle. He was completely frustrated by all the choices. I told him to just get Tide. His response, "there's about ten different varieties of Tide!" We again had sticker shock when our grocery bill for maybe 1-2 weeks of groceries came to $204.
Driving home on the 6-lane highway, we noticed how the roads are so clean and trash-free. Everyone stayed in their own lanes and obeyed the traffic signs. Anna and Leo weren't too happy that they had to wear their seatbelts again. When we got closer to home, Bryan stopped at a stop sign and Leo asked, "Why are you stopping Dad?" Bryan explained that we had to obey the signs. Anna then responded, "I liked it better in Africa when you can go when you want to." Luckily, she will not be driving for another ten years.
Our re-entry to life in the States was definitely made easier by Plymouth having one of the most beautiful and perfect weather days ever. Our re-entry to Plymouth, however, became official when we walked to the Dairy King to get ice cream. Delicious. Some things are easier to get used to.
