On Second Thought...

We have returned from our lovely, hectic trip to Vancouver, with a brief stop over in Toronto to see my brother and his partner. It really isn't easy adjusting to life back in Dominica, and we're definitely sulking. We'll get over it. Visiting my family and Denise's was fantastic, and running around two major cities, while exhausting, was exhilarating because it reminded me of what it's like to be in a bustling city. My brother Greg commented that Denise and I have become country bumpkins after a year in a third world country. He's right - it's easy to forget that life outside of Dominica is, frankly, far far better than life in Dominica. We marveled at everything.

On that note, we have reconsidered where to go for fifth semester. In a previous post, I said (to the surprise of several) that we were seriously considering staying in Dominica for the extra three months. Well, no more. It was somewhere in the air between Dominica and Toronto that Denise remembered what life in North America is like, and informed me that we wouldn't be staying in the Caribbean any longer than needed - before the plane landed. It took me until my first sip of a good beer to agree.

Good stuff, thanks Greg!

So it seems like right now it's Michigan or bust. Obviously, if we're not accepted in Saginaw, we won't turn our noses up at Dominica - indeed, it would be my next choice. So fingers crossed with the application process.

A second thing that I've reconsidered is the use of sleep masks. I had previously dismissed them as only for the elderly (no disrespect to the elderly who read this), and ridiculed a friend of mine, who had used one, on the plane to Toronto.

"I slept great this flight," he said. "What did you do?"

I grumbled and shuffled my feet.

Well, I tried it for the red eye back down here, and goodness it makes a difference. I was so much better rested than any other flight I'd taken. Heartily recommended.

Strangely, there are very few pictures in a Google image search of sleep masks on men...

The third thing both Denise and I are struggling to reconsider is the highly discussed Big Bang Theory (the show, for those who are unfamiliar). I'd seen an episode and thought it pretty lame. Denise saw two and dismissed it. But increasingly, people whose opinions we value have been harping on us to watch it. The result? Denise still doesn't find it funny at all, and I...kind of find it funny. I tried not to, and it's still early on, but I couldn't help but laugh when I watched the first two episodes. Stay tuned.

*Disgusting facial hair update: It's all gone. Very sad. I rocked a mustache for a few days, but had to shave it for engagement photos. Don't worry though, I've already started getting ahead of the competition for Movember. Pictures will be forthcoming when I find a camera with high enough resolution to actually see my two-week-shadow.