This morning I completed my high altitude acclimation by running the St. Patrick’s Day 5K in downtown Colorado Springs. Here’s a pic of Suzanne and I decked out in green. And then a pic of Jared and Suzanne in their race attire. Suzanne and Jared are a part of an improv group called The Stick Horses, which explains the stick horse in the picture.

I was talking while Jared took this pic which explains the funny face.

top three culture shock moments
Being back in the United States is good, but at times it can also be humorous. Here are a few moments that recently made me laugh:

3. This morning at the St. Patrick’s Day race a woman I didn’t know asked me a question. After answering her I looked at Suzanne and said, “It’s so weird that she spoke to me in English.” I’ve grown accustomed to not being able to answer questions from people in the community because many times I didn’t understand what they were asking.

2. I called Michelle, a friend of mine who I used to work with, to see if she wanted to hang out on Friday night. The first words out of her mouth, “You speak slow.” I hadn’t even realized how I had been trained to articulate what I’m saying to compensate for those who only knew a little bit of English.

1. I did laundry on Thursday. That was a whole new experience. I put my clothes in the washer and grabbed the detergent. I stood in front of the washer thinking, Where do I put the soap? I don’t remember. In Austria and Serbia we had smaller washers that had a specific compartment for the soap. I had to laugh at my hesitation in getting my laundry started. I did finally remember and now have clean clothes!

Hope this finds you having a wonderful Saturday! Thanks to all of you who cheered on my basketball team (Louisville) today against Texas A&M. Unfortunately they lost, but it was a great game! I think they really suffered this year without one of their biggest fans to cheer for them on a regular basis. *smile*

Blessings!

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