Today's 10 Ways I Miss America

I have now spent over 800 hours in India, and I’m looking at the last four full days. Excited to go home or devastated to leave? I keep asking myself, and I can’t answer, but today I am feeling very aware of all the ways I miss my country.

1. I miss my god forsaken Corolla. And stop signs.

2. I miss living in a country where watches mean something.

3. I miss the feeling of a seatbelt. Just the sound of a seatbelt. No, putting on a seatbelt.

4. I miss grouchy, solitary Americans who work for efficiency and productivity—bless capitalist ethics.

5. I miss sandwiches with avocado and cucumber.

6. And brushing my teeth with a faucet. Oh, drinking from a faucet—wow.

7. I miss skirts—my skirts, that don’t make me feel like my sexuality is being gift-wrapped for marriage—and tights. And heels.

8. I miss feeling clean for more than a few minutes at a time. And napkins—Oh my God, paper towels.

9. I miss not having to speak in baby-talk, ending every sentence with “Ok, or not ok?” for basic communication.

10. I miss being cool enough to wrap up in a thick sweater. And pine trees. And I miss being in a community that will hold me to a list of 10 things, because I said it would be a list of 10 things.

Here are Olivia’s top 10.

1. SOAP. (Capitalized for extra passion).

2. Toilet Paper (She’s a liar, we have a little toilet paper)

3. Clean water accessible from the tap

4. Clean dishes

5. Salads (I second this one—when I come home I’m definitely going to try to be the kind of person who likes salads)

6. My bike (Fun fact, we’ve found half a dozen abandoned bikes but all too broken to ride, so walking has felt extra disappointing)

7. Clean feet

8. A good strong water pressure shower

9. My family and friends (now I feel like I should have mentioned that)

10. Light breakfasts

11. MN lakes and the Minnehaha creek by my house

12. The air smelling clean.

See what I mean about being with people who don’t make you stick to 10 things?