There are many things one learns from spending an extended period of time in a different country. Many things are expected because they're part of the culture. Other things are unexpected that you learn because our culture has ways around these things! So I made a list of the things that I have learned that I never thought I would ever need to know, until now:
1. Too much washing detergent is a bad thing. Your clothes can actually be too clean. Stop laughing at me all you house moms and house grandmas because I had no idea!! My clothes always feel extra dirty so today when I was doing laundry I was generous with the detergent I was using. First of all...its made for a high efficiency washer. Initially when I bought the detergent I thought to myself: My hands are very efficient! But I was wrong!!! They do not compare to the spin cycle 3000 we have at home. When you use too much detergent your clothes become "crunchy". And since your hands are most likely raw and red from washing all your other laundry already you will just have to suffer through "crunchy" clothes.
2. Comfort is a state of mind. There is nothing to be said for this except for that sometimes to fall asleep you just have to think cold, soft, thoughts and forget about the fact that your are laying in a puddle, drenched in your own sweat.
3. If you will yourself to like something it eventually starts to taste good. But it usually takes 3 weeks.
*******Disclaimer! This doesn't work with spicy food. Spicy food will still be spicy even if you imagine it dull***********
4. Sometimes you just gotta buck up and pee in the dirt. Make sure you appreciate your toilet today and be extra nice to it always, because some of us sometimes have to settle for a hole in the ground.
5. Sometimes people just want to hold your hand...even if they've never met you....even if you really don't want them too.
6. Ant killer is a lot more effective with out the EPA modifying it to be "safe for the environment"
7. It only takes 15 minutes to get new glasses. All this bologna your eye doctor tells you about a week wait for your glasses is ridiculous. Here they have the lens cutter in the back and the frames are sold by a "what you see is what you get" basis.
8. If you are white, no one feels sorry for you. If you happen to trip they will laugh at you because you are obviously foreign.
9. Smelling fresh is a privilege not a right.
10. Power outages allow you to reflect on different people groups....like the Amish.
11. UNO makes time fly.
12. Time is relative. 30 minutes? 5 hours? It's really all the same....oh did you need to be somewhere on time?
13. We spend wayyyyy to much money on the doctor. When will America catch on and make ALL drugs over the counter...makes life simpler.
14. Cows and Buffalos look very similar. Their milk is very different though, don't let the color fool you
15. My brother, Sam, when he was 5, once said, "Whats even the point of matching??" Someone in India heard him and agreed.
16. Speed limits are not necessary. Neither are sidewalks. Or crosswalks. Or any traffic laws at all really...
17. Your true friends will make an effort to keep in touch with you. And love you even from all the way across the world. The other people you thought mattered...really don't.
18. Who needs a helmet when riding a motorcycle?
19. Technology is amazing. Who isn't impressed with the fact that we can Skype, FaceTime, chat, email, and do anything else with someone who is thousands of miles away!!
20. Bugs in America are relatively small. So are mice and snakes. Be grateful!
21. Underwear is overrated
22. America does NOT have enough Holidays...the kids are out of school at least once a week here
23. American men don't value our ankles and shoulders enough.
24. An impromptu dance party is all you need to get through the day sometimes
25. Someone always has it worse than you
26. Simple things to you are very difficult to others. You ask for rice and they bring you shrimp curry...
27. Sometimes you need to care about yourself...but sometimes you have to care for other people first
28. Brothels are a real thing. A real terrifying thing. And there are no "emergency help" buttons anywhere to save you if someone snatches you
29. Being run over by a semi truck is a legit fear for some people
30. North Carolina could offer some great insight in terms of road building....
31. You haven't lived until you've anointed someone's pregnant belly with oil....that you've just blessed.
32. All great movies were based on the dreams by someone under the influence of malaria medicine
33. Being a celebrity isn't all its cracked up to be
34. Talking about your poop is OK
35. Be grateful the only thing men in America have a problem with is putting the seat down. Men in India just pee on the side of the road. And don't try to hide it...if you know what I mean......................
36. Watching your dinner get killed in front of you really makes you contemplate the question: Will there be chickens in heaven? ...it also makes you sympathize with PETA....then you remember that you need to eat
37. Good friends will remind you of your purpose when you have forgotten it.
38. Sometimes you just gotta cry. Even if you have no reason.
39. Be thankful EVERYDAY for the Mexican influence on food in America. Sometimes the only thing that will help is a burrito.
40. God has a purpose for everything. We take that for granted too much. God even has a purpose for the bad things. And you find out those purposes a lot quicker here than in America....or maybe we just miss those things in America? It's harder to miss those purposeful opportunities in America because we are so focused around all our great stuff. Next time you think you don't have a purpose...get off your iPhone, get over yourself, sit back, and look around because God probably wants you to do something AMAZING for Him :)
1. Too much washing detergent is a bad thing. Your clothes can actually be too clean. Stop laughing at me all you house moms and house grandmas because I had no idea!! My clothes always feel extra dirty so today when I was doing laundry I was generous with the detergent I was using. First of all...its made for a high efficiency washer. Initially when I bought the detergent I thought to myself: My hands are very efficient! But I was wrong!!! They do not compare to the spin cycle 3000 we have at home. When you use too much detergent your clothes become "crunchy". And since your hands are most likely raw and red from washing all your other laundry already you will just have to suffer through "crunchy" clothes.
2. Comfort is a state of mind. There is nothing to be said for this except for that sometimes to fall asleep you just have to think cold, soft, thoughts and forget about the fact that your are laying in a puddle, drenched in your own sweat.
3. If you will yourself to like something it eventually starts to taste good. But it usually takes 3 weeks.
*******Disclaimer! This doesn't work with spicy food. Spicy food will still be spicy even if you imagine it dull***********
4. Sometimes you just gotta buck up and pee in the dirt. Make sure you appreciate your toilet today and be extra nice to it always, because some of us sometimes have to settle for a hole in the ground.
5. Sometimes people just want to hold your hand...even if they've never met you....even if you really don't want them too.
6. Ant killer is a lot more effective with out the EPA modifying it to be "safe for the environment"
7. It only takes 15 minutes to get new glasses. All this bologna your eye doctor tells you about a week wait for your glasses is ridiculous. Here they have the lens cutter in the back and the frames are sold by a "what you see is what you get" basis.
8. If you are white, no one feels sorry for you. If you happen to trip they will laugh at you because you are obviously foreign.
9. Smelling fresh is a privilege not a right.
10. Power outages allow you to reflect on different people groups....like the Amish.
11. UNO makes time fly.
12. Time is relative. 30 minutes? 5 hours? It's really all the same....oh did you need to be somewhere on time?
13. We spend wayyyyy to much money on the doctor. When will America catch on and make ALL drugs over the counter...makes life simpler.
14. Cows and Buffalos look very similar. Their milk is very different though, don't let the color fool you
15. My brother, Sam, when he was 5, once said, "Whats even the point of matching??" Someone in India heard him and agreed.
16. Speed limits are not necessary. Neither are sidewalks. Or crosswalks. Or any traffic laws at all really...
17. Your true friends will make an effort to keep in touch with you. And love you even from all the way across the world. The other people you thought mattered...really don't.
18. Who needs a helmet when riding a motorcycle?
19. Technology is amazing. Who isn't impressed with the fact that we can Skype, FaceTime, chat, email, and do anything else with someone who is thousands of miles away!!
20. Bugs in America are relatively small. So are mice and snakes. Be grateful!
21. Underwear is overrated
22. America does NOT have enough Holidays...the kids are out of school at least once a week here
23. American men don't value our ankles and shoulders enough.
24. An impromptu dance party is all you need to get through the day sometimes
25. Someone always has it worse than you
26. Simple things to you are very difficult to others. You ask for rice and they bring you shrimp curry...
27. Sometimes you need to care about yourself...but sometimes you have to care for other people first
28. Brothels are a real thing. A real terrifying thing. And there are no "emergency help" buttons anywhere to save you if someone snatches you
29. Being run over by a semi truck is a legit fear for some people
30. North Carolina could offer some great insight in terms of road building....
31. You haven't lived until you've anointed someone's pregnant belly with oil....that you've just blessed.
32. All great movies were based on the dreams by someone under the influence of malaria medicine
33. Being a celebrity isn't all its cracked up to be
34. Talking about your poop is OK
35. Be grateful the only thing men in America have a problem with is putting the seat down. Men in India just pee on the side of the road. And don't try to hide it...if you know what I mean......................
36. Watching your dinner get killed in front of you really makes you contemplate the question: Will there be chickens in heaven? ...it also makes you sympathize with PETA....then you remember that you need to eat
37. Good friends will remind you of your purpose when you have forgotten it.
38. Sometimes you just gotta cry. Even if you have no reason.
39. Be thankful EVERYDAY for the Mexican influence on food in America. Sometimes the only thing that will help is a burrito.
40. God has a purpose for everything. We take that for granted too much. God even has a purpose for the bad things. And you find out those purposes a lot quicker here than in America....or maybe we just miss those things in America? It's harder to miss those purposeful opportunities in America because we are so focused around all our great stuff. Next time you think you don't have a purpose...get off your iPhone, get over yourself, sit back, and look around because God probably wants you to do something AMAZING for Him :)
I love you grace
ReplyDelete-pookie
I love you back, Pookie :)
ReplyDeleteHilarious bits at #10,15,21,32, and 34!
ReplyDeleteTruth at 13,17,22,37,38, and 40.
While reading this list last night, we cried laughing at #10 for real.
I am thankful for your bubbly, hilarious personality, in a place of the world that needs it so badly.
Fantastic!!!! Thank you for reminding me again how a simple life cuts away the rat race for more and more luxuries and lays bare the basic necessities of life and the need to just LOVE.
ReplyDelete"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." much love to you!
Dear, dear Grace. I hear you're in a new place today. Forrest told Stuart about the loneliness he felt not having anyone who spoke English. I noticed a few days ago that you've already been practicing dialogue with God. Carry on. He understands English. "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you." Love is a universal language, so be sure to speak it unreservedly.
ReplyDeleteYou're living a real monk's life with an enforced silence! The monks in the early church went into the desert to draw near to God. I pray your "social desert" will become a very precious time for you. I wait to hear about the children. Pop-pop and I pray for you and Stuart during the day. Love you lots. Nana
You never fail to make me laugh. So proud of your attitude and willingness to go with the flow. So glad to see you embracing so many new things. Stay safe!
ReplyDelete