The Bends

I thought that I could try and ease myself back into Western life. So I've been, except for a weekend in Austin, mostly staying home. Turns out that I'm in need of something like a hyperbaric chamber for the rest of the world. Small talk is still difficult, I'm having trouble catching the verbal and gestural cues that augment meaning, and I can't stand more than 30 minutes of commercial television. I mean, I used to be able to watch TV for hours on end. And now, well, let's just say some old or foreign commercials are more entertaining to me than the programming

2:49 AM and I don't feel like sleeping. 1:37 PM and I couldn't stay awake.

Let us just say that I may be trying to get back too quickly, and the change has carbonated my brain.