I arrived in Virginia on September 2 and joined V at the Airbnb where he’d been staying since we parted ways in Seoul—he’d continued on to the D.C. area to get back to work, while I’d headed to the west coast to see family on Congressionally mandated home leave.
As much as I wanted to rest once reaching Virginia after driving across the United States alone, I jumped actively into my to-do list. I stayed up late that first night to help V address an unexpected health issue, then arrived early in DC the next morning for my own 8:00 a.m. doctor’s visit. That launched a full Thursday and Friday of medical appointments, phone calls, and errands. My time during the business day was limited; after the Labor Day weekend, I would begin studying Bosnian, my fourth language course at FSI in 12 years.
Collecting Postcards 