Monday, May 11 We spent most of last week running errands and getting situated. We are a little surprised by how much there is to do and how long each thing takes. We also spent some time with our parents. We knew our parents would be happy that the trip was over, but we can’t even begin to tell you how ecstatic they are. As you would expect from parents, they were constantly worried for our safety. Of course driving to work in rush hour traffic is more dangerous than many of the activities we did on the trip. Human nature never ceases to amaze us. The unknown, no matter how benign it is statistically speaking, is always believed to be more dangerous than a familiar but significant danger.

While running errands, we went into the heart of downtown for the first time since we left in April 2007. The area around the ballpark has changed dramatically. When we left, a lot of construction was in process, and now most of it is completed. What used to be abandoned warehouses and factories are now chic, upscale hotels and restaurants. Twenty years ago, downtown San Diego was scary and the city council started offering incentives to renovate the area. Every year, it gets better and better and is now one of the nicest downtowns we have ever seen.

This weekend we had several more rounds of get togethers. We continued to get all the same questions in the same order, but these groups were smaller and more manageable for Christi to handle. Plus, she was also more emotionally prepared as to what to expect. And, we are once again getting used to the “American Way”, so the cultural chasm is starting to fill in for us.

This morning, our high speed cable internet finally was turned on. When we saw it, our jaws literally dropped. We were absolutely amazed at the speed. We forgot internet could possibly be so fast. What we have come to consider a “fast” connection while on our trip is only a fraction of the speed of our new cable internet. Wow. Actually, seeing the internet connection here makes us understand why our friends just cannot comprehend why we couldn’t keep the blog in real time, or load massive amounts of pictures and video, or join groups like Facebook. They have no idea what it is like to be without internet for weeks on end or how hard it is do work with bandwidth intensive applications on a slow connection.

On the subject of taking things for granted, we continually marvel over how good the roads, road system, and drivers are here in Southern California. We honestly believe it is the best we have seen in the world (of course, that comes at the expense of public transit, but that is a different subject). When we hear people complain about the roads, traffic, or other drivers, we literally burst out laughing.

Eric went to work today. It was more of a “get re-oriented” kind of day so that he can hit the ground running when he starts work for real after we get home from Greece. Eric is ready to go back to work. As much as he loved the challenges of boating, they are not at the same intellectual level as the challenges of his job are. He is eager for that higher level of mental stimulation.