Side Notes

We are still in the process of writing down our thoughts about living in a foreign country for 18 months: what we learned, how we’ve changed, and what difference the experience has made to us. While we continue to compile our thoughts, we’d like to update you on other happenings since our return to Dallas.

On Easter weekend we took a long weekend trip to Pennsylvania and Delaware. Mostly this was a trip to celebrate our fifth anniversary, but we are also in the habit of continuously planning trips and looking forward to going places so it will be a while (if ever!) before we let go of our need to travel. Easter weekend was a cold weekend almost everywhere in the U.S. There was no escaping snow, unless we had gone to, say, Miami. We heard it snowed in Dallas – quite a contrast to the weather they had at this time last year when it was already in the 100s! (This is second-hand information since we, of course, were in the Netherlands at this time last year and it was not in the 100s there.)

Despite the cold weather and snow flurries, we really enjoyed our weekend away from Dallas. Neither of us had ever been to Philadelphia, so we got to visit the National Historical Park in the center of the city (Constitution Hall, the Liberty Bell, etc.) and walked around the Arts district (where there is some excellent Indian food to be had) and Society Hill. We ventured back into Philadelphia Sunday before our flight back home to find some lunch and then discovered how horrible parking is in the city. We also discovered that finding a quick bite to eat on Easter Sunday is a challenge since so many places are closed, but we ended up having some tasty pizza (maybe it was tasty because we were starving, but we were satisfied nonetheless).

We stayed in Wilmington, Delaware in the Brandywine Valley area. Saturday was spent at Longwood Gardens, an estate established by Pierre Dupont that covers over 1000 acres. With so much late cold weather there weren’t too many flowers blooming outdoors, but the grounds were nice to hike around anyway with the lakes and fountains, and trees. There is, however, a huge conservatory overflowing with plants! It was a blessing that it took so long to go through the conservatory because it was a nice warm place to escape from the snow flurries and wind. Pierre Dupont originally built the conservatory so he could have fresh fruit in the winter. There are rooms where melons, grapes, citrus fruit, and strawberries are grown to meticulous standards so that the fruit turns out perfectly. We also enjoyed all the tulips, orchids, roses, rain forest room, cactus, and much, much more. We even got to hear a nice string quartet concert for free! The day ended with a fabulous Italian dinner at a tiny, tiny restaurant in Wilmington’s “Little Italy” called Pastabilities. It’s been showcased on the Food Network, and we really enjoyed it.

We made it to Valley Forge on Sunday morning before we had to head back to Dallas. After doing the driving tour, we hiked around the middle of the park where the roads were closed to cars. Washington and his men were camped there in the winter and we got a little taste of what it must have been like because it was extremely windy and cold when we were there. We were freezing without the snow and bundled up in our coats and gloves and sweaters. We can’t imagine what it must have been like for Washington’s army in their threadbare clothes with no indoor heating!

As an update, Erin is still looking for a job. It is difficult to find an internship position, and this will be the last that this subject is mentioned on the blog until she actually obtains a job because talking about it only increases the anxiety and depression. (All of you who have searched long and hard for a job will know exactly what she is talking about.)

Also, we have noticed that stair steps in the U.S. are very shallow after living in Europe. It feels awkward and slow taking such tiny, itty-bitty steps to go upstairs. Often we end up going up (or down) two at a time to correct the problem.