Thursday, June 05, 2008

As I sit in the airport, I write:

I’m leaving the states today.
It was hard to readjust at first and a lot of things got on my nerves.
But now after this month, there are things that stand out that I definitely like. They use to be everyday things that I took for granted, but now I see them as creature comforts that I will miss now that I know I won’t have them “over there”
1)Big appliances. I cooked on a big stove, and put my food in a big fridge. The washer machine was so big I put in my normal African load of clothes in, and then had to go and get more dirty clothes to fill it up!
2) High speed internet. Just click. You’re there.
3) Good coffee. Africa has crap coffee, which is ironic because good coffee is grown in Africa. I guess they export it all and leave us only with tea in Swaziland
4)Math-less days. I stayed here a month and never did math. I didn’t convert Celsius to Fahrenheit, kilojoules to calories, kilograms to pounds, kilometers to miles, or milliliters to cups. You have to be very smart to live in Africa. It makes my brain tired.
5) Free stuff. Free refills, free chips and salsa, free bread and olive oil, free gift card with purchase. America is the land of the Free.
6) Customer service. Have a problem? We’ll get it fixed. If we can’t fix it, we will find someone who will. Leaving a job undone is not an option. Not once did I hear “ah, sorry madam. I can’t help you.”
7) Now-now movies. See a commercial? Go and watch it. You don’t have to wait until a missionaries’ grandma sends it on DVD. And you can get butter on your popcorn.
8) House marathons. Episode after unseen-in- Africa episode.
9) Yummy high calorie, fatty foods- Coffee creamer, donuts, McDonalds, pizza, Mexican, sushi all at your finger tips.
10) Garage Sales- good stuff at cheap prices. One man’s junk is my affordably priced treasure.
11)Toilet seats in every bathroom stall- Guarenteed, or your money back. Oh that's right, we don't pay for toilets in the US. And each stall comes clean with toilet paper available. Very very soft toilet paper. It makes me very very happy. No explination necessary.
While I’m fine with going back to Swaziland, I have been very happily pampered in the USA

1 comment:

Carole Turner said...

Thanks for blogging. You have suffered great loss. My prayers are with you.