day 238: list of things i miss from the states

Sup friends,

So, I've been in Peru for what...8 months now? Wow. It feels like I just got here.
But in any case, there have been a few things that I do miss from the states that have been starting to become noticeable absences in my life here.

First and foremost, my family and friends. Obvy. Thankfully, I have good enough internet access that it's not too much of an issue. Also, my lil bro is in Peru right now! Plus, I love my 17ers like no other. For serious.

Now, in no particular order, here are some objects that I miss from the states. You will notice, it is predominately food related:

1. Asian food. Not just chifa, chifa, chifa (chinese food). I want pho, shrimp and basil spring rolls, thai iced tea, pad thai, red curry, kimchi jjigae, kalbi, bulgogi, sashimi, sushi rolls, good japanese ramen, and all the delicious sweets as well.

2. Speaking of sweets, I miss american snacks like big time. I was never a big snacker, but now that I'm constantly surrounded by snacks here, I do miss them. Like kettle corn, doritos cool ranch, marshmallow fluff, good chocolate (hershey's cookies and cream? ghiradelli caramel squares? lindt orange dark chocolate? omg, bacon chocolate...), almonds (so expensive here!), red vines, jerky (all forms. i love jerky.), swedish fish, hot fries, sun chips garden, pocky!, etc... if I were to ever go back to the states between now and the end of my service, my first stop (after eating, of course) would probably be costco and my suitcase on the return trip would be 50 lbs of snackage.

3. Gym. I've completed phase 1 of p90x, but in the words of my lil bro: I miss picking up heavy things and then putting them down. Plus, the gym has a pool, row machines, ellipticals, free weights, bench presses, and yoga mats. I don't have these things in my room. I should really invest in a yoga mat. I probably will once I save up enough? We'll see. I'd rather go travel with any cash I save up, but I do enjoy yoga...

4. Good coffee and tea. Coffee is predominately instant, or not even coffee (there's some brand called 'echo' or 'ecco' or something like that, and it's like fake coffee. Whatever it is, I don't like it.) and the tea is limited to just a few types (I did buy some green tea at the market, but it's not very good... I'm mostly drinking it now just because I bought it.) so I'm now at this point in my life where I consider Starbucks coffee, good. Yea. It's not instant. There is a coffee shop next door to a hostal we stay at that does have some wickedly delicious coffee, and I do make it a point to go there whenever I'm in, but nothing makes me feel more pampered and guilty as being able to get my favorite starbucks (soy iced grande sugar free caramel macchiato) to go. Whatevs.

5. Driving and organized streets. Getting into a colectivo is putting my life in the hands of a man who very likely paid a nominal fee and nothing more to get his license and drives a stick shift (although shifting gears may or may not be something he understands) of a car that should not be allowed on the road (exposed wires, all gauges not functioning, smell of gasoline very prominent, etc.). Then they cram 5 or more people into the car and hope to not run into any policemen (we usually never do).

6. Privacy and personal space. They don't exist. I'm pretty good about shutting my door and not talking to my family for hours at a time, and my family is very good at respecting my need for solitude. Anyone outside of my family thinks of this as very strange, and no one knows what a personal bubble is (made obvious by the number of times random people have sat on me or leaned against me or played with my clothes or hair while waiting to get off a bus. Like, seriously? Don't touch me). I have a very large personal bubble, or so I thought. That idea was destroyed pretty quickly and replaced with the idea that I have a very high tolerance for things I used to not tolerate before. I'm learning patience. It isn't really fun.

7. Having someplace to go when I get bored. There was always something to entertain me back in the states. Sometimes it was the park, the library, Six Flags, Disneyland, the mall, movie theaters, observatory, friends' places, or just walking around. Nowadays, if I'm bored (and I do get bored fairly often), I sit in my room and tumblr/facebook/youtube, read, watch tv on my laptop, and not much else. I suppose I could go to the library (so boring cause there aren't much in terms of books! I'm working on that, though), or just sit around outside somewhere (it's summer and hot and the air is full of buzzing insects. This is not my favorite idea), and sometimes I go to the market and just walk around (although people find me strange since I'm clearly just perusing, not intent on buying much).

8. Air conditioning. IT'S SO DAMN HOT. I visit the ATM in my site, because the small room it is in is usually air conditioned. I actually make it a point to pull out only a few bills because then I will have to return. So worth it.

Anywho, those are just some thoughts I had on the subject right now. It mostly came up because I can't fall asleep, since I'm going to make a quick trip to Trujillo tomorrow to buy somethings I am in desperate need of (toiletries, food things, etc.) and am super pumped cause I'll be making a stop at Starbucks... heh.

It's the small things in life that get you through it all, really.

Love and Peace, my friends.
Love and Peace.