Things I miss...

- Being Dry: it’s ridiculously humid and rainy here all the time. my clothes are never dry, my hair is never dry and I never feel dry.

- Feeling Clean: it can be a grand total of 20 seconds after my shower and my hair feels greasy and dirty. I don’t know if it’s the water or my shampoo or just the environment down here, but it’s crazy. Plus I feel greasy and oily after just 5 minutes out the shower (plus I’m still wet).

- Milk: so we’ve been drinking “shelf milk” lately because it last longer. the stuff in the jugs claims it is pasteurized but it goes bad in a few days. the shelf milk comes in a box, doesn’t need to be refrigerated and is written in Arabic… I miss my skim milk.

- Internet/Cell Phone: I know this is an experience; an immersion, but I miss being connected to the universe. I miss being able to be online whenever I want to be. I miss talking to people. Even just picking up a phone to call the clinic about a prescription instead of walking to find the person would be wonderful. I’m adding a set of walkie-talkies to the list of donations the clinic should receive, so if you have a set and are willing to part with it, let me know.

- Bug-Free Environments: there are ants in the kitchen, in my room, on my bed, on my computer. there was a spider in the kitchen, in our room, in the bathroom. I know bugs are “important” in the whole scheme of things, but I miss knowing that I wasn’t going to wake up in the morning with 5 new bug bites of unknown origin.

Being Barefoot: carpets are amazing. cherish them while you have them. I am so sick of constantly wearing my flip-flops everywhere. I want to walk around barefoot but there’s so much dirt and so many bugs it just isn’t practical.

Friends and Famly: you knew you guys would be on the list somewhere.


Things I Don’t Miss from Home:

- Insurance Companies: all prescriptions are free at the clinic = no insurance ever. I can’t even begin to tell you how much better this system is.

- Angry Patients: the people down here are so nice and so appreciative of the care we’re providing. I haven’t had a single patient yell at me, swear at me, threaten me. It’s a true Godsend.

- Internet/Cell Phone: I know I griped about this already, but I do think it’s a good thing to be disconnected a bit too. it’s hard to deal with, but I’m learning. I’ve wanted to rely on my cell phone less lately so this is a really good excuse for that.