I'm back (in the USA)!

Phew, the last month might have won the award for the busiest and also the longest hiatus from my little blog to date.

So much has happened over the last month, so I'll start at the beginning and catch up over a series of posts.  We arrived in California on May 14 via a long journey through Istanbul.

Saying goodbye to the Alps from the plane

We picked up our rental car and drove down to my temporary apartment in Santa Clara that I will be staying in until August.  I was pleasantly surprised by how large and well-equipped the apartment was, it comes with basically every type of furniture, electronics, linens, cooking supplies, etc. that one could possibly desire. It has been really comforting to not have to worry about accommodation these first few weeks.

Our excitement upon arriving that first day quickly turned into exhaustion as we fell into bed.  The next morning Ryan woke up feeling like absolute death -- with a fever, chills, sweating profusely, and a headache. He wasn't able to shake the sickness and spent the next 6ish days visiting and staying in hospitals. The doctors still don't know exactly what made him sick, but they assume it was some sort of un-diagnosable virus.  He eventually recovered, but it was a long week for poor Ryan.  His sickness certainly was not the best way to start our time in California as I (and our families) were super concerned for his health and it meant he also didn't get a chance to explore the area before he had to fly home to Switzerland.

The sick patient in the hospital :(

In the midst of all of this happening, my first week of work also started.  That time was therefore a bit of a blur, I remember being immensely happy for my new job and impressed everyone and everything around me, but at the same time overwhelmed and really distracted/worrying about Ryan. So overall our first week back in the USA was a bit intense and I was more than happy to move on to less stressful and healthier times.

Pictures from my training

Fri-YAY!

Up next time, my initial "repatriation" impressions of living back the US.