With my lovely friend Sara, near her home in Seattle. Our other beautiful college friend, Eva, snapped the shot.
So, I've been in the US for six weeks now. I've only lived in Haiti for eight months, but some newly-learned ways of thinking are dying hard (and some of the following were picked up in my travels in South America, so they've had more time to become ingrained).
I adjusted to the following after a couple of weeks:
- recognizing electricity will always be present, so I can wait until phones and computers have less charge before being sure to plug them in
- tossing toilet paper in the toilet (not in a wastebasket) when out and about
I still have to remind myself it's okay to drink the water from the tap. Frequently on my way to brush my teeth I think, "Ooh, I'd better get a water bottle to take with me."
Here are some items I packed that I completely do not need in the US:- wet wipes for bathing "in case there's no running water at some point"
- washcloths (in the countries I've been in the past four years, their presence in other's houses is not a given)
- bandanna to keep dust off hair while travelling
- cloth to wipe sweat off of face
- toilet paper
Now, while packing I did know that I wouldn't need the last three items while in the US, but I thought they would be so critical for the two days (in three months) I would be in Haiti that I should carry them around the rest of the time. Yikes.
I'm still not used to the fact that we can alter the temperature at will in cars or houses. I use hot water from the tap every chance I get. And I get really covetous at grocery stores with the immense variety of produce and fiber-filled grain products. Mmm...off to eat some Mestemacher bread and an apple!
With Niki, another phenomenal woman from college, and her daughter.
