1. 24 Jul


    Home. What was the first thing I did when I reached US soil?  Well, after getting Schlotzky’s and Smoothie King, and getting super angry that both cashiers texted and giggled to themselves for about 30 seconds before looking up at my eager face to take my order (that would’ve never happened in Guat), I went to the bathroom. And when I went to throw my toilet paper away, I was absolutely befuddled by the lack of a trash bin in which to toss my waste. “What the eff Houston? WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH MY TOILET PAPER? Throw it on the ground??? Are you kidd… Oh. Toilets here can handle toilet paper.” Culture shock, item #1. Kansas City consists of a lot of good things. Namely, hugs so hard they hurt. Towering brothers who’ve grown and grown in my absence but are still as cuddly as ever. Sunflowers. A big bag of cherries and carrot cake (Momma knows me best, I do reckon). New drawer handles in the kitchen. A shaved puppy. Heat. A taped episode of The Bachelorette. My bed. A new pair of TOMS waiting to replace my absolutely Guat-destroyed ones. And love. Lots and lots of it. “The best things in life aren’t things,” if you can read the sign behind the flowers. True, indeed.

    Home.

    What was the first thing I did when I reached US soil? 

    Well, after getting Schlotzky’s and Smoothie King, and getting super angry that both cashiers texted and giggled to themselves for about 30 seconds before looking up at my eager face to take my order (that would’ve never happened in Guat), I went to the bathroom. And when I went to throw my toilet paper away, I was absolutely befuddled by the lack of a trash bin in which to toss my waste. “What the eff Houston? WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH MY TOILET PAPER? Throw it on the ground??? Are you kidd… Oh. Toilets here can handle toilet paper.” Culture shock, item #1.

    Kansas City consists of a lot of good things. Namely, hugs so hard they hurt. Towering brothers who’ve grown and grown in my absence but are still as cuddly as ever. Sunflowers. A big bag of cherries and carrot cake (Momma knows me best, I do reckon). New drawer handles in the kitchen. A shaved puppy. Heat. A taped episode of The Bachelorette. My bed. A new pair of TOMS waiting to replace my absolutely Guat-destroyed ones. And love. Lots and lots of it.

    “The best things in life aren’t things,” if you can read the sign behind the flowers. True, indeed.