Bed, Bath & Baghdad

Bed, Bath & Beyond is where I spend my days.

Since returning in late February from our latest travels, Jacqueline and I have gotten busy reintegrating ourselves into normal American life. Craigslisting, job hunting, traipsing through the rain to visit apartments, purchasing cell phone plans, and shopping for home goods felt like familiar processes, albeit a bit surreal.

We decided to resettle in Washington, DC—the city we had left 18 months earlier to move to Morocco. Throughout our time in North Africa, we had reminisced with other former Washingtonians about the city. Parroting the unmistakable voice of the city's Metro system was a favorite pastime. ("Ding-dong. Doors closing. Ding-dong. Please step back to allow the doors to close.")

Today DC remains mostly familiar, despite the major events that took place in our absence: the