Yesterday marked 3 years since our family first arrived in
Tanzania. I intended to write a blog about 3 big things I've learned these last 3 years. What did I do instead? Looked through almost 3 years of pictures from facebook with Hope (who was up very late!) We relived our move here, our first few months of everything being new, new friends, remembered old neighbors and commented on how things have changed and people have grown. It was actually a really fun hour or so, but alas, no blog post. And I sit here now, having had a busy day of Swahili, laundry and packing for a 2 night getaway and have no real energy to put into a "things I've learned" type of post. Instead, how about things I miss & don't miss about living in the US? That'll have to do for now.
Things I miss about living in the US, in no
particular order:
Family and friends top the list by a long shot, of course.
- neighborhoods with sidewalks, streetlights and parks
- having daylight past 6:30pm
- consistent internet, electricity and water
- accessibility to things - if I need new guitar picks, I know 5 options of where I can get them in the US...not the same here.
- fall and everything that goes with it
- berries
- highways & the ease of travel
- free or inexpensive things to do with the kids -parks, fishing, hiking, walks, lakes, availability of rec league sports, lessons of various types (ballet, etc)
- liturgy in church
- good health insurance and access to top doctors and health care
- thrift stores & garage sales
- the children's museum and the meijer gardens
- a sense (though often false) of security - not always feeling stressed when driving or out at night, or wondering about your home security, etc.
- camping
- PBS
- Tiger's baseball
- certain restaurants & good pizza
- Ice cream/frozen yogurt
Things I do not miss about living in the US, in no particular order:
- advertising and commercials
- kids sports being god in the lives of some (many?) families
- processed food being cheap and whole foods being expensive
- the temptation to consume, consume, consume
- fast food
- the hurried pace of life - everyone always being "crazy busy"
- pressure to have the latest, the best, the biggest, the most, etc
- politics
- winter & snow (the kids would without a doubt disagree with this one!)
What about you? If you moved away from where you currently live, what do you think you would miss? Anything you'd be glad to leave behind?
I need to take this challenge, as it is only 2 weeks since we moved from Dar es Salaam to Denmark. Right now the contrast between these two worlds is very clear and sometimes different to imagine. We moved from one of the most busy road and area in Dar to our house here in DK, compare to Dar, to the middle of nowhere, at the country side, no cars and smell from a busy town in Africa to the smell of from the country side.
ReplyDeleteHere listed in random what we do miss in Dar:
The beach and the Indian ocean.
The everyday sun and summer weather with no need of socks and hot clothes.
My car, which I never thought I should say, but a Land cruiser does have a lot of space and there is always space for extra passenger.
My collages at Soma Biblia and the special missionaries fellowship.
The fellowship at Hopac and on behalf of my kids their wonderful school with care for the individual child and the daily life in a Christian community.
Azam Ice and juice. (Tanzania’s products)
Mango and advocates and other tropical fruits.
Nice places and payable places to go out for lunch.
The palm trees up against the blue sky or up against the night sky with the half boat moon in the background.
My wonderful and lovely housekeeper to help with the household.
The limit of internet for my kids to use unlimited internet with access to YouTube etc.
What I don’t miss living in Dar:
The traffic jam, although it has its own crazy culture.
The wall around my campus.
The gird in front of my windows and the sleeping security guard.
The noise from pikipiki, air conditioner or fanes and the neighbor’s cows, hens or burning of bad smelling trash.
The daily challenge with a second language and misunderstanding.
Corruption and the political way of running a country.
The big commercial signs and their fighting of getting the money from people who don’t have them.
The unstable internet, water issues and electricity challenges.
Sun set at 6,30
The no liturgy church
To be a stranger (Mzungu)
Have a nice Summer break - From the Danish family Nørgaard