September 20, 2015

30 Signs We've Adapted to Life Overseas

1) We can tell by the brightness of our lights and the speed of our fans if the power is operating at the full 220v, closer to 240v or closer to 110v.

2) Every time we walk in the house we listen for the hum of the fridge, if we don't hear it we flick the kitchen light switch on and praise Jesus eleven times when it's actually ON.

3) We can de-bone a chicken faster that you can say "throw away the neck first!"


4) I've become a pro at making nearly everything from scratch - chicken broth, cream of whatever soup, bbq sauce, pizza sauce, tortillas... the list goes on.

5) I don't even flinch when I see a gecko scoot across my floor, up the wall or fall in attempting to walk on the ceiling.

6) We've been on enough airport runs we know what time the different carriers land without looking it up.

7) I get squeamish when I see girls wearing shorts or skirts above the knee.

8) One of the first things we notice in movies is the carpet on the floor or the exceptionally comfy-looking furniture.

9) Going over 40mph makes my heart start to race.

10) I'm no longer phased by seeing two goats and two men on one motorbike.  Or two men, a headboard, footboard, side rails and a mattress.  Or three grown men and a small child. Or a... well you get the picture.

11) If I see ants in the sugar bowl, I leave 'em. (they'll suffocate eventually)

12) I pay $5 for a pound of butter.  But only $1 for a pineapple the size of my head.

13) I keep TP in the glovebox. (do I really need to explain that one?)

14) I have friends that switch from English to other languages nonchalantly while in conversation and continue until they notice that my response time has slowed considerably.

15) I'm becoming more comfortable with the metric system than the standard measurements.

16) I start wearing flannel and sipping hot cocoa when it's 60* outside.  Oh, who am I kidding, 65* is plenty cold.

17) Our son recognizes two seasons: rainy season and 'dust season'.

18) Said 4 year old son also thinks that snow and winter is make-believe, "like the tooth fairy".
19) Seeing monkeys around the neighborhood no longer impresses us, or the kid.

20) We separate our trash into three bins - compostable (food), burnable, and non-burnable.

21) We've eaten things we'd never think of eating in America - goat, goat liver, termites (fried), gazelle, kudu... and there's a pound of impala roast in my freezer.

22) Samosas are suitable for any meal or time of day.

23) Grocery shopping means going to no less than 5 different locations - but only on certain days and for certain things at each place. (Wednesday the beef is fresh at the meat market, but Friday's the broccoli is fresh at the other market)

24) Every shop owner, check-out clerk, parking-lot worker and petrol station worker in town, know my son's name and ask where he is if they don't see him.

25) Hearing a man talking on the phone and hockin' loogies just outside my window means my guard is awake and doing his job, and that I have nothing to worry about.

26) It doesn't feel right when I can't negotiate a price for something.

27) I can predict the length of a power outage based on the time it cuts out.

28) Flashlights and lanterns are strategically placed in every room of our house.

29) There are far more movies on my hard drive than on my DVD shelf.

30) Our supply of mango, avocado, banana, lemon, orange, papaya and coconut comes from our own yard throughout the year.

#thisishome #lovethislife #missionarylife #lifeinTanzania

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