Reentry 101

We all know what happens when a spaceship re-enters the atmosphere: it superheats, and unless it has been built to withstand the friction it encounters as it flies back toward earth, it might disintegrate or burn up before it gets there.

They say there's a similar process for missionaries, too, but I hadn't experienced it before so I thought I would note it.

It really didn't help that I don't do big cities on an average day. Getting a taxi to the hotel where I'd meet my family cost me an hour and a half, three failed calls to taxis who didn't send drivers to the airport, and $80 I didn't have ($$$).

The hotel required payment for their internet, and the price tag was huge ($$$).

I was also emotionally ragged from the travel and probably some hormonal jazz going on. Plus I hadn't eaten and there were no restaurants nearby. After I talked to my parents, who were still en route, and they encouraged me to just order room service ($$$ again), I collapsed and had an exhausted, hungry cry before going to clean up and get a shower while waiting for the food to arrive.

I'd thought that might be the worst of it.

But the next day we decided to eat lunch in one of the museum restaurants in Chicago. Not going to lie, I'd already had a few overwhelmed moments that morning when I realized that Americans actually stand in a clear, calm line to wait for tickets... not something I'm super used to seeing anymore, I guess. But I walked up to the food serving tables in the cafeteria line at the museum with a sudden sense of overwhelming desire to just leave. Here I am, staring suddenly at an excessively laden steamtable and wondering why I can't see individual items. Kale salads and three kinds of soup as well as a pizza table and a pasta bar, not to mention the desserts and the fruits and seafood. And I got grumpy. Couldn't decide, felt like I was treading water or maybe drowning in it, retreating into myself.

And my mom looked at me. "Are you okay?"

That's when I realized. "I think... I'm doing reverse culture shock right now... sorry..."

"I wondered," she said. Oh, sometimes mommas are so wise.

And all that over lunch.

And then... clothes shopping. Where's the line between "I get this because I need it and don't get to a store very often" and "well, there's money I could use for this, but technically it's not in the budget"?

Okay, so re-entry was maybe not as easy as I'd expected. Going from a developing country to a five-star hotel in Chicago for a weekend with my family overwhelmed me with a sudden influx of luxury and excess I'm just not used to. I live on a pretty tight budget and the mental processes to match... if I don't have the money, I shouldn't spend it.

But I made it this time, by God's grace (and good deal of grace from everyone else, too. Haha). And I guess next time I'll know better what to expect.