Monday, July 22, 2013

On things, old and new, and transitioning.

Life in America, even while unemployed, quickly gets away from you.  I'm not sure if that's good or bad, but that is how it is.

One of the biggest and most time-consuming parts of my American life has been the technology.  There's free internet everywhere and it's pretty fast, limited only by my outdated and well-used netbook.  I can actually internet shop and buy things if I want.  Or I can read today's news, every day.  I've learned what the heck pinterest is, and that # is a hashtag.  Nobody calls # a "pound" any more without the risk of getting laughed at, speaking from experience.  When I shut off my computer there's the TV.  Free movies and TV of all types, current types, on a big screen.  And I don't know if you realized, but high definition has come a long way in the last 2 years.  Am I standing in this lawyer's office or just watching it on TV?  Also, call me whenever you want.  Just because you can.  I'm just happy that my phone is dumb, so I don't have to figure out how to use that, too.  No wonder so few people read books.  And oh, the books.  The authors have just kept writing and it's awesome.

I've been awed by how much stuff I feel that I really need to get along in the U.S.  It makes me a little bit uncomfortable.  I no longer have to make special trips into town to hit the ATM (and hope that it's working) and carry around an uncomfortably large stack of cash.  I do have to convince someone to give me a credit card.  Public transportation here is nonexistent to highly inconvenient to laughably expensive, and since I don't think I can mentally or emotionally handle city life that means I had to go car shopping.  Quite possibly the most stressful shopping ever invented.  My closet is full of what I think to be a ridiculous amount of new clothing, but it turns out that there are seasons here, and that I need clean, neat clothing to go out into town, and even nicer items for interviews or weddings, and clothes I can wear for outside work or exercise.

Parts of life in America still haven't ceased being awesome.  Unlimited ice water, hot showers with functional shower heads, and laundry machines are up high on that list.  Grocery shopping is still difficult to do, because I still can't quite conceive of being able to buy more that a few days worth of food or food for more than one person without it going bad before you get around to eating it.   Also, knowing what you want only means you narrowed it down to a minimum of 5 different options.  The options are a killer for me.  One trip to CVS included 15 minutes of standing in front of the hair ties.  If I'm going to spend a whole $3 on hair accessories I now feel like I need to make sure they are exactly the right ones, and why the heck do I have to buy a minimum of 30?

Yes, there are a lot of changes in my life and adjustments to be made.  But above all that, it has been incredible to see and catch up with all the family and friends I missed while I was gone.  It's easy to get tired of talking about where I've been and what I've done, but it will take a long time for me to tire of hearing about what everyone else has done.  Someone asked me: do you miss Madagascar?  Well, there are things I don't miss, but I really do miss the people.  But I count myself lucky because now I am back among all the awesome people that I missed when I was there.

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