Home, Sick – Erich

The title of this blog entry is not to meant to imply that we are homesick. Though at times we do get homesick. It isn't exactly that I miss a particular home or city. But I miss the comfort of knowing that I will understand the language of any shop I enter. I miss the conventions of the U.S. culture that I can count on. For example, in the U.S. if you go to a restaurant, toward the end of the meal the waiter will bring you the bill. But in South Africa and also it appears in Morocco, no one brings you the bill until you specifically ask for it.

But that isn't really what I mean to blog about today. I mean that for the last couple of days we have been home sick, or sick at home. We haven't been going about in the city. It's nothing serious, sore throat, sniffles, coughing, and sneezing. First Syarra was stricken with it, then Carver, and it continued on to me and as I am getting over it, Alrica has now picked it up. We share so nicely.

Really, though, this is to be expected. Each time we travel to a new place on the globe, we get exposed to all kinds of pathogens we don't normally experience. Plus, we stress out our bodies. Sleep schedules change. Time zones change. When you eat changes. What you eat changes. Really when one thinks about it, it is amazing that we don't have to spend an entire month recovering from all of the changes.

Intellectually, I knew that this could happen with travel. And to be honest, it hasn't freaked me out that it is happening. But of course, I would prefer it did not. Ever impatient with my immune system, I guess.

So we use the time for other explorations. The kids work on home school. Alrica and I work in various internet classes. We look up some videos to explain or learn. For example, yesterday, we were reading in the news about the rift between Iran and Saudi Arabia. So we found a video to explain the division between the Sunnis and the Shi'a.

And we take time to play games and just enjoy our time at home. Yesterday we fought a high level illusionist and a bunch of his minions, though many of those minions may have just been illusions themselves. The rust monster was real enough though! There went a magical dagger and some magical bracers of defense. (I'm sure a sad face emoji would be appropriate here, if I could find one that looked enough like a tough dwarf who isn't the kind who can cry, I would insert it. If you find one, please let me know.)

At the rate that the illness came and went for the kids, I suspect that tomorrow or the next day we will all be ready for more exploration. And in the meantime, I guess one must learn to live with it. In every life, a little germ must fall. Or be inhaled. Or, well, you get the idea.