Life Recently

9 weeks down.
9 to go.

It is SO hard to believe the days in front of me in Centra Asia are now smaller than the ones behind. Hard to believe, and bittersweet at the same time.  Often the days go by slowly, but the weeks and months are going by quickly as i look back over them.  I don’t want to forget anything and I am trying to be more intentional to record the little things about life that I am learning in every day life here on the other side of the world…so here are some little snippets from my life recently of things that have happened to me and things that I have learned.

• I love people-watching.  I always knew this but being in a new and different culture is especially exciting.  I have decided that people-watching in airports are my absolute favorite.  I love watching reunions of people and friendships, old and new.  I have loved the hours sitting and drinking coffee in the airport this fall waiting…
• I can now say that I have washed an entire kitchen-full of dishes in an entire day…OK, so I didn’t do it single-handedly but Sarah and I have accomplished this task together! 
• I don’t really miss American food after not eating it for two months, but I really miss liquid coffee creamer…A LOT!
• Living in another culture requires that you sleep a lot…I learned very quickly that I couldn’t stay up until after midnight and expect to jump out of bed at 7am the next morning!
• I have learned to sleep in the car while traveling in Central Asia…I have never done this successfully before, but can say that I have slept quite well at times propped up in the bus or van.
• I am currently a proud possessor of peanut M&M’s from America!!  A sweet volunteer brought them to Sarah and I last week and we are planning to ration them to last for the remainder of our time here! 
• Dunkin Donuts exists in my city here…enough said…why has it taken me two months to discover this?!
• I feel so much safer now that I have discovered that my roomate brought a police baton from America to ward off the bad guys.