Gung hee fat choy

Hello everybody, we made it home in one piece.

We were just in time to check out the Chinese New Year festivities (I like to imagine it as our Homecoming Parade;-) and it was a good reintroduction to the city. Strangely giddy, we stood out in the freezing rain in Union Square, waving and clapping at the floats going by; marching bands were dressed in giant rain ponchos and even the big dragons were covered in clear plastic bags for protection. We worked our way over to the Buddha bar on Grant St and drank Anchor Steam as firecrackers blew up right outside the door. Ahh, home.

For the most part SF looks pretty much like we left it. The past six months have raced by, and in many ways it feels like we've barely been gone. Some people have asked us if we've gained any great insights or been changed by the trip.... um, well, yes and no (sorry to be so cryptic) ...I think those kinds of topics are far less interesting on a blog than they are over drinks, over the phone late at night or at some kind of dinner party... So, maybe later:-)

We're slowly adjusting to life at home...we've been going through piles of mail, reactivating cellphones and subscriptions, and getting ourselves reaquainted with the contents of our closets, cupboards and drawers. It's a pleasure wearing our "real" clothes again, and not the same REI/quickdry/tourist gear over and over. It might sound odd, but we're very happy to be cooking our own food in our own kitchen again. Oh yeah and doing our own laundry in our own building is pretty satisfying too.

We're not quite done with the blog yet; I'll be posting photos from Argentina and Ecuador soon, maybe some additional ones from Chile and New Zealand (I was also thinking of writing a post or two about the logistics of the trip, fill in some blanks, we'll see..)