Sunday, September 11, 2011

Things I Miss

I know it's only week 2 and I am still overjoyed to be here but I'm entitled to be a wuss in a couple ways.

Things I totally took for granted in the United States and miss completely:
  • A warm shower with water pressure. Not a scalding hot shower, not an ice cold shower, just a perfectly in between shower with enough water pressure to actually do something.
  • A twin sized bed. Yes, you read right, a twin sized bed. I've been sleeping on a couch that is much, much smaller than a twin.
  • Speaking of beds, I miss my tempurpedic mattress topper more than anything. 
  • Clean, cold drinking water. They don't believe in ice here and none of the water is really safe to drink and when it is, it most certainly tastes like rust.
  • Drinking fountains.
  • Being able to read signs. I'm getting there--come October I'm pretty confident I will have it.
  • Soft, fluffy toilet paper.
  • Public restrooms. YES, you read that right folks, I said public restrooms. They don't have them here, and if they do you have to pay for them and there's no toilet paper and it's just a good ol' squatter toilet.
  • Having so many members of the church in such a close area. It takes me over an hour to get to church. I have to get on the metro, transfer to another metro line, take a bus, and walk a tiny bit and then I arrive at my branch which consists of two American families, a few others, some missionaries, and that's all. The branch is so happy to have all of us ILP volunteers here to add lots of members to the branch.
  • A car. Public transportation is nice but slow and spendy.
  • Having adequate means to meet my needs. America's middle class is seen as a frivolous lifestyle here in Ukraine.
  • Good roadways! Traffic here is terrible, driving is scary, and the roads are all in rough shape.
  • Cleanliness. It's not as important here. There's trash everywhere on the sides of the streets.
  • Spices and sauces. The food is kinda bland and Laria and I are just dying for some taco bell sauce and ranch or something!
  • Momma's homemade chocolate chip cookies.

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