36 Days

36 days until...

-no more stupid mosquitos that force us to slather Chloe in mosquito repellant and whack with the zapper at top speed before they eat us all.

-no more nasty cockroaches that poke their beedy eyes at you from inside the cupboards and fly in your front door when you least expect it.

-no more sitting still, minding your own business and then suddenly feeling the greasy, slimey sweat that starts to drool down your forehead and upper lip, thanks to the wonderful heat and humidity.

-no more fans on at night, teasing my hair, which tickles my face, which sends me one step closer to screaming my brains out because of endless thoughts and insomnia.

-no more being imprisoned inside of a heat-stroke house for fear of wandering the big city on my own.

-no more wishing for the closeness of friends and family.

-no more wiping and sticking it in the garbage can instead of the toilet...

-no more crappy, weak grocery store bags that don't even fit in the garbage can.

-no more language/culture barriers.

-no more hanging up clothes on the line and ironing every last item.

-no more wishing for peanut butter.

-no more Chloe in our bedroom.

-no more buying water.

-no more tile, tile, tile.

-no more slaving away in the kitchen for hours like it's Thanksgiving because everything is made from scratch, scratch, scratch!

-no more mini appliances.

-no more having bad hair days because it doesn't matter if I do my hair anyway, it just gets ruined by sweat and humidity.

-no more wanting to rip my clothes off every time I get home and sometimes understanding nude beaches.

-no more getting a dessert and asking, "Is there anything WITHOUT condensed milk?"

-no more wishing for milk.

-no more sitting in the back seat of the car.

-no more beind identified as "the American."

-no more counting days...

Okay, okay. I know some of you are probably thinking. "Wow, that was pretty negative." And I'm not going to deny it. There are some things that I just haven't gotten used to in the last 2 years and 3 months. I am ready for friends and family. I am ready to be in my country, and I will be more patriotic than ever when I get there. I especially have an even greater love for Utah. What a wonderful place to live. I can't wait to live there again!!! But, as my brother Andy told me a while ago, I should be grateful for the experience I have had of living in another country among another people and culture. And I am. I am very grateful. I know that many people haven't had and/or never will have this experience. So, now I would like to add another part to this blog.

In 36 days, I won't be able to...

-go to the beautiful beaches of Recife.

-eat authentic Brazilian food.

-hear the beautiful portuguese language roll off the tongues of everyone around me.

-hug my in-laws.

-see the look of joy on Chloe's face as she plays with her vovos and ti-tia.

-hear my father-in-law rock it on his guitar with his mad skills and awesome voice.

-learn tons of things from my mother-in-law and talk to her for hours.

-feel the searing Brazilian sun on my face.

-have Sunday lunch with our awesome neighbors.

-watch movies with Rachel.

-drive by the spot where Pedro proposed to me.

-stand the fact that Chloe can't be with her grandparents from both sides.

-hear Pedro always speaking portuguese.

-stop counting the days until we can come back to Brazil...