Reverse Culture Shock

They talked about in our "re-entry meeting," but I didn't think it would be super noticeable but it is. A few things that have really stood out to me once I've been back.

• I was hiking, and we reached the summit I went off to take photos. When I looked back I saw my trip leader down in child's pose, doing yoga, except I thought he was praying. In Tajikistan, I awkwardly walked in on people praying so frequently that I just assumed. The first reasons my brain thought he wasn't praying was because I noticed he wasn't facing east (the sun was setting so it was easy to see the cardinal directions), even though in Tajikistan they pray facing west. It was only after that thought went through my head that I remembered I was in the U.S. that ever few hipster yogi white men are actually Muslim, and he was actually doing yoga.
• I kept putting my toilet paper in the wastebasket in my bathroom instead of in the toilet since I had grown so used to doing that in Tajikistan where putting toilet paper in an upright toilet would clog it. My mom got really grossed out by it understandably. 
• I keep accidentally saying tashakur instead of thanks. I didn't learn the language well enough or stay there long enough for more complex terms to become ingrained in my memory, but short phrases that I said so frequently like thank you (tashakur) or sorry/excuse (mebakshed) have become almost instinctual 
• In Tajikistan, you put your right hand over your heart to show respect. You do it when accepting something given to you (like food), saying thank you, saying sorry, or just passing someone in the street to say hello. Basically, it's used all the time. I kept putting my hand over my heart here too when saying thank you or accidentally bumping into someone on T. But I probably don't look that weird.

Also if anyone is interested, here is a vlog made by another participant. (full disclosure: I am not in it that much).