Spoiled

Now that James and I are officially living in the U.S. again (though we have no official living residence), we are feeling pretty spoiled by the normalities and banalities of life. I feel a bit like Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when she sings her song "I Want it Now" because it all seems so--possible! You can ask for--and find--just about anything you want in America. The availability of choices is staggering.

There are luxuries that we never really appreciated until having lived a developing country, and we both still have the feeling that everything is so temporary, like it has been over the last two short Christmas breaks. We are trying to break ourselves of the mentality that we have to "stock up" on things, or that "this is the last time" we eat certain foods, etc.

Happy to be Home!

Some of the small stuff we've been loving:

• Air Conditioning
  
• Healthy food options at the supermarket
• Using a dishwasher (this one is short-lived. We won't have one in Lawrence come August...)
• Watching English-only TV with muchos channels
• Walking around outdoors and feeling 100% safe (and hot -- it's humid in Missouri!)
• Quickly filling up the coffee pot from the sink
• Going to a gym where people are polite and clean, with cold water from the water fountains
• Driving on wide roads with other rule-abiding citizens. No window-tint needed! No locked doors!
• The long, sunny summer days. No sunset until after 8pm! (instead of 6 pm year-round in Guate)
• Wearing our wedding bands and my engagement ring. We've missed our nice jewelery that means so much to us.
• Understanding every interaction we partake in (in English) and understanding what others around us are saying, too!
• The predictability and orderliness of life in America. People stand in a line. They wait their turn. They drive in one lane. Imagine!
• Having the family cats to help us grieve giving away Rafa: Gabby, Dooley, and our cat, Mia
  
• Making phone calls to friends and family that are domestic (read: cheap) instead of international.
• Going shopping without wondering how much everything is going to weigh in a suitcase!!
  

For now, it still seems like this is "vacation" instead of just what life will be like from now on...Either way, we will take it!

If you are wondering, the blog will go on, but it will likely take the form of our friend Kim's LuceChatter, a blog more about daily life and State-side observations and MUCH less about Guatemala.

Congratulations to Scott and Emily Smith!
We attended their beautiful wedding the day we flew in.