Well it’s been a little while. And I have to say it’s been a very interesting while. I’ve been trying to get a couple of projects off the ground in village; but of course there are always obstacles…So, I don’t want to talk about any of that just yet. Maybe my next post will elaborate on the projects and what exactly is hampering theirprogression.  What I have decided to do with this post is give another dimension to my stay here. I thought it would be nice to make a list of things that I miss in the U.S. that I took for granted while I was there.…its only right.

So without further adieu, the top 26 things I miss in the U.S.:

1.       Waking up to the sound of morning rush hour traffic (as opposed to the sound of donkeys, pigs and dogs oh and goats…)

2.       Falling asleep to the sound of street fights and loud car music (as opposed to the same noises mentioned above.)

3.       Air conditioning!!!!

4.       Access to a variety of different foods (I just can’t eat another plate of rice, couscous, or to….I just can’t)

5.       Happy Hour on any night of the week.

6.       Real breakfast…. Like biscuits, pancakes, eggs, or even cereal and almond milk…(Oatmeal is right up there with the other stuff. And do you know how hard it is to find eggs in village???)

7.       Poetry ciphers (This may seem random but I really miss that positive/intellectual/all about the movement atmosphere.)

8.       Coffee shops/ pseudo intellectual book stores (Shout out to Sankofa, Starbucks on Georgia ave. and Bus Boys)

9.       Washing machines….OMG…(People, please don’t take washing  machines for granted!)

10.   Not living with lizards in my house

11.   A refrigerator!! I waste so much food because I can’t cook it all before the heat spoils it. smh

12.   Bathrooms (Everything—shower, toilet, sink, mirror, tiles…all of it.)    

        12b. Having a bathroom in the house…

13.   Being able to make a phone call without having to bike 1 ½ k to the main road to get reception.

14.   Books…and then the intellectual conversations that followed

15.   Fighting with my sisters and friends (Lol, I’m sure you all miss this too!)

16.   Going on real dates (I’m not even going to elaborate on that…)

17.   Running water (I think one of the biggest things I took for granted right after the washing machine.)

18.   Knowing where to go, to get anything I needed.

19.   Working with likeminded individuals (I will let you interpret that as you wish)

20.   Not having to wait on care-packages

21.   Wearing really cute clothes and heels(I know that sounds kind of shallow but it’s something I took for granted….just being honest.)

22.   African American culture ( the music, the dancing, the conversations, the  jokes, the fashion, the everything…HU in one sense or another.)

23.    Not  having to sleep with a mosquito net

24.   Being able to google any pointless, or random thing I wanted to know.

25.   Access to new and old music all the time!! (It’s a good thing I have like 2,000+ songs on my itunes  because the I have no access to new music…unless someone sends me CDs or an I tunes gift card???!!!)

26.   This may sound really corney and expected but, I really do miss my close friends and family. I truly did take that aspect of my life for granted in that I was so ready to leave them to get to Africa. Although I am still very content with my decision to come, friends and family occupy my thoughts all the time.

Believe it or not, that’s all I have. One would think this list would be a lot longer than just 25 things. Over all, life here is really simple so that means that my access to resources are simple as well. For example, while pretty much everything I eat is organic and locally grown, (pretty simple way of living in a village) the variety of things that are grown is limited to about 8 things…and that may even be too much.  So you get the point right?

Until next time….

Love, Peace and Poetry

Song: We Fight/Love- Q-Tip ft. Raphael Sadiq