- Last things that Miss M and Miss A want to do before we go home.
- Our visitors from home.
- Summer camp and activity options for the girls
- School supplies to buy here (well, they give those to you in Spanish; my list is in English)
- Things to sell and prices
- Things to bring home
- The number of checked and carry on bags we have available to us
- How much suitcase space and weight to allot to different items we are bringing home
- Calendar dates for when we get back (contact me now to get on the schedule!)
- My personal goals for the next year, 5 years, and 10 years
- Budget for back in the states
- List of funds needed and funds available for repatriation
- Project plan for things we have to do to at the house before we move in (like refinish the hardwood floors and unpack).
- Etc.
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| Lists, lists, and more lists (these are the school supply lists for the girls). |
But I've also been thinking about things that might be difficult to adjust to once we are back home or just seem weird.
Anticipated Adjustment Points:
- Remembering to throw toilet paper in the toilet instead of the garbage can. (Don't know what I'm talking about? Read about toileting in South America. And so far, I haven't forgotten once in the time we've been here!)
- Being able to call most relatives or friends from our house instead of scheduling a Skype session.
- Getting online orders in a matter of days (not having to wait weeks or months for the next visitor to bring it down).
- Drying our clothing in a dryer instead of on the line (and if we do hang it on the line, having it take days, not hours to dry out).
- Having access to warm, nay, hot water basically all of the time (currently, we are dependent on a solar heated water tank).
- Driving and biking (we don't have a car here and walk most places or take a combi (mini-van bus).
- Nearly everyone speaking English and reading things in English. I may have to work on remembering to lower my voice (right now I say whatever in a regular conversational tone because I assume no one else will understand what I'm saying anyway.)
- Checking the weather (no need to do that here- it's basically the same every day! Sunny, high in the 70s, lows in the 50s. Except for rainy season which is just a little different but still haven't checked the weather.
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| I am currently trying to figure out if we need one or two more of these packs to get us all the way to departure....it's going to be close with just one but I don't want a lot of extra..... |
- I currently spend a lot of time doing errands (because I don't know the language or system or just because things like paying bills take a LOT of time.) So when we get back, will I feel like I have more, less, or about the same amount of time? Currently, I am working 10-15 hours a week and doing any number of errands that take more time than it would in the states. But I am not working full time. We also have a house helper who helps with things like laundry and basic cleaning. How busy/crazy will I feel when we get back to Minnesota vs. here (we still haven't hit the bored/twiddle your thumbs stage and I fall into bed exhausted most nights).
- How much easier will jogging be when I'm not at high altitude? (Better be a lot easier than here!)
- How much weight will I gain eating cheese and "Mexican" food that we haven't been able to eat down here? (Tortillas are not a Peruvian thing- hard to find and quite expensive.)
- How long will we take to adjust to being "home" again?
- What is going to explode or feel strange that we haven't anticipated?
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| Oh, how I miss cheese! (Thanks for bringing this down, mom!) |
If you have ever had reverse culture shock or have ideas for us as we adjust to coming back to the States, leave them in the comments!
