Sickness apparently brings out my American pride

A few weekends ago I was sick as a dog. I was literally horizontal for three days sleeping, drinking water in that awkward position where you end up pouring it on yourself, watching online TV, replaying the song "the dog days are over" and filling trashcans with kleenex. I had a 103 temperature and no Fran Risch to bring me crushed ice and soup. Good news is, I am completely fine now. (I now take my vitamins religiously and drink like 3 cups of tea a day and if there is any kid with the flu at school, I turn and run). But while cleaning yesterday I found something that brought me back to this terrible weekend. It was a list I had made while I was on my deathbed. (I literally found it under said deathbed's mattress!). The list was titled: "You Ain't Amurica."

It's a list of all things American that don't exist here. As a side note I should add that I typically don't do this. I am not really a mopey homesick study abroad student that walks into the grocery store and pouts because there are no pop tarts. But it was totally necessary this weekend. It was my first true case of homesickness. No, it was my first true case of momsickness. And I was wanting some Amurica. So here goes:

Happy hours, kickball, garage sales, barbecues, NPR, big coffee mugs filled with lots of coffee, 12 different asian food restaraunts in a town that probably only needs two, tireswings, floattrips, cubscouts, girl scout cookies, baby marshmallows, marshmallows, puppy chow, large sized dogs, Whole Foods, college ruled paper (I can't adjust after 20 years of the same sized lines), automatic cars, cars that don't try to run you over, cars bigger than a breadbox, fountain diet coke, Pandora radio (this one is gold), chai tea lattes, leftovers, food divided into 100 calorie bags, baby carrots, self-checkouts, businesses open on Sundays, DRYERS, garbage disposals, sale sections in stores, variety of zip lock bags, Target, people who wear pajamas/sweats as clothes, people who say ya'll, razorbacks, Arkansas, Tenkiller Lake, blow logs, my parents, my siblings, my siblings' children, my siblings' dogs, my best friends. At the end the list got kind of biased as it became  just a I miss... list. That's the problem when you're sick. You get sappy.

However if I were to say that I'm not a generally sappy person that would be a total lie. I am a sap tree. I have actually been on an Enya binge this past week. Yes, Enya. And my ears and heart have been melting. And it's been awesome!

Back to the comparisons that I shouldn't be doing though there is a mega list of what Spain has got and America doesn't. America is no Spain. For example, interesting vending machines. (They are sporadically placed around the city and you just see them squeezed between really old buildings). Anyway  I passed by this vending machine en route to my language school yesterday and it had all of the typical snacks on the first few rows (chips, M&Ms, Jamon flavored pringles, dried ham etc). And then it went: rolling papers, mayonnaise, condoms, yogurt. You just don't get that variety in America!


Two blog posts in two days. Bam. Blog master.