The jet was lagging

Dagny and Andre picked us up from the airport. My very tired first impression walking off the plane, on which toddlers surrounded us and I couldn't get a moment of shut-eye, were first and foremost very loud. An officer trying to get a grip on the endless coming and goings of vehicles, tried to help people park until he noticed the driver wasn't paying attention. At that point, he just started yelling 'GO GO GO'!

jetlag: extreme tiredness and other physical effects felt by a person after a long flight across different time zones.

We found Dagny and Andre rather quickly, tossed our luggage in the trunk, gave each other a quick hug in the ever-moving ocean of cars, and quickly hopped in the car on our way to get a bite to eat.

The American experience

We went to Popeyes, an American fast-food chain, and had some fries and a burger. With 'some' I mean a small portion that was HUGE. The drink came complementary to the menu in a plastic cup, I kid you not, was bigger than my head. We ate in the car, drove for almost 2 hours, and picked up Dagny's dogs before going to Danielle's birthday party.

The long car drive definitely took a toll, I was fighting to keep my eyes open when we arrived at Phillip's place. This is where her dogs stayed. Philip and Gordon, our bosses came out and greeted us for a second. They were in the middle of a dinner.

Danielle's birthday party

With the dogs with us, we raced off to Danielle's birthday party, we were endlessly late as it was. We party bombed a bit, we met her mother, got a glass of wine and I tried to follow the conversations - everyone was so excited and were chatting and yapping, my sleep-deprived brain couldn't fully process the waterfall of words.

In a desperate measure to stay awake, we all jumped in the pool - FREEZING COLD! The dogs - at this point four: Finn, Dagny's dog, LeBron, Andre's dog, and Indigo and Balou, Ian and Danielle's dogs - joined us all in the water. Very nice. At this moment we got to know Raph, a close friend of Dagny. She is an amazing human and we will see a lot of her in the coming weeks.

Around 9 in the evening, the toll of traveling caught up with us and we went to bed. We stayed with Ian and Danielle, in a bedroom on the first floor. They live in a nice wooden house with a lovely garden. We could choose from two bedrooms. The moment my head touched the pillow I fell asleep.

Sleepless night

Jetlag is more than the time difference and a lack of sleep. It is changing your whole inner clock. The first night was challenging, even though I was exhausted and fell asleep immediately, all of a sudden, at 2 in the morning, I was wide awake. My body figured I was taking a nap and that it was 1 in the afternoon - well time to wake up. I read a book downloaded on my E-reader, tiring out my eyes, and dozed off again a couple of hours later.

American morning

I was brutally awoken by nothing less than gunshots. It was the day before Labor Day - celebrated the first of September in the States. This time I couldn't fall asleep anymore and started the day.

Sunday was a very wholesome, relaxing day. A slow morning with some coffee, reading outside with a stunning view to enjoy, the dogs were excited to see us and tricked Kiki into giving them a second breakfast, the tricky rascals. They were very loud and Danielle took them with her to her room - she likes to sleep a bit longer than 7 am on a Sunday - after her birthday party, who would have imagined ;). Ian had already left, he had a meeting to attend. Kiki and I called our family and took a shower.

When Ian came home after his meeting, around 10 in the morning, we had a lovely conversation about the school, Cambodia, his travels through Asia, and particularly Mongolia. We talked about life in New York State and the odd laws. The gunshots that woke me up, for example, a group of teenagers had gathered on a field. It's illegal to shoot a bird when it sits on the ground, so they waited for the birds to take flight and then all shot at once. Danielle joined us a bit later, we enjoyed lunch together and she told us about her travel 'trauma' experience in Mongolia. We made plans to walk the dogs later with all of us, and Dagny and Andre.

First time driving a car in the States

When we were about to leave, everyone hopped in a car, and Ian hastily gave me a key to the red Suburban. A Suburban is a big truck, a mix between a family car and a jeep. Kiki and I were very confused when it became clear to us that we would drive a car to the starting point of the walk. This scared the bejesus out of me at first, it has been ages since I drove a car, especially an automatic one. Cars in America shift gears and settings near the steering wheel. A whole different gimmick than European cars, Kiki had to ask for help since I couldn't shift. Apparently, you have to pull the stick closer, Dagny joined us in 'our car'. Once I knew how to handle the handlebar, it was a very easy and smooth ride to the walk.

The walk was lovely. NY State is so beautiful! Lush green nature, waving hills as far as you can see, nature and wildlife all around. On our walk, we passed by a private landing stroke for airplanes, and the Finn decided to take a swim and chase Canadian geese in a big pond. Dagny had to climb over the fence to call Finn back; trespassing in America was not what I had in mind, especially because Ian and Andre started to explain to me that technically people were allowed to shoot her on their property.

We turned around a bit later and went back home. Kiki drove this time and was laughing maniacally when she was turning the gigantic car out of a mix of fright and excitement. We arrived safe and sound back at the house and we decided to cook a vegan curry together. During dinner Ian went over the rules of the game: Settlers of Catan. Ian and Danielle love to play this game. Unfortunately, the jetlag was kicking in and Kiki and I got very tired during dinner. We watched the beginning of the game and went to bed soon after. One thing I noticed was that everyone playing was very competitive during the board game. It was fun to watch.