We arrived back home a week ago and are so thankful for the smooth travels and the warm welcome. Our travel day was long, but without problems. Isabella slept most of the way and Sophia was not too scared of the masked people who boarded our plane to take our temperature. Thankfully no one was quarantined. One thing that we were not prepared for was the paparazzi surrounding Sophia in every airport; she had maybe thirty pictures taken of her. She took it all in stride, but I was a little more anxious about the scene.
Upon arrival in our town we realized that the old airport had been demolished and removed, the new one standing long and tall in great splendor (the shape of a peacock, seriously). It had ‘domestic arrival’ venue which insinuates that the future may hold international flights…we can only hope.
On our flight was a man who had been with us all the way from Thailand. David started talking to him and discussed the man’s business selling Jade. He was very friendly and offered to drive us home. We did the normal refusal lots of times until he insisted. Isabella and I rode with them while David and Sophia rode in a taxi (because, yes, we had that much stuff). It took me a few hours to think back and realize that in America, never ever ever would you put your wife and newborn in a car with two male strangers, here this is so normal. The cultural differences still seem so vast at times, we are thankful for the friendliness and generosity…
The ride through town was quite nostalgic for me. The air smelled sweet like rain. The rice fields were a more brilliant green than I remember, the dusty road filled with tractors and buses of people going home for the day seemed to me so quaint and perfect.
