for b

My dear, dear friend B is coming home to the States today from Cyprus! Though I won't be able to see her, I wanted to do something to celebrate being on the same continent as her.  So, I thought I would share a list of things she can look forward to in her native land that I still find wonderful two months later.  What can I say?  Repatriating can be just as complex of an experience as moving abroad.  

B, you can look forward to...

Grocery stores being open past 7.

The post office being open all day long and even on Saturday!

ANYTHING being open on Wednesday afternoon!!! (In Cyprus, everything closes at 3 on Wednesdays...I still find myself planning my weeks around this conundrum.)

Target.  It's even more wonderful than you remembered.

5 pound bags of flour and sugar that cost less than a kilo of the same product.

Chik-Fil-A and it's glorious, glorious lemonade.

Nordstrom.

Good customer service. 

PEANUT BUTTER! 

Getting a load of laundry washed AND dried in an hour and a half, not just washed and hung up to dry.

Mail gets delivered in a matter of days, not months.

Wide, open roads where (for the most part) drivers obey traffic laws.

Noise pollution laws that limit motorcycles from zooming past your house at o-dark-thirty.

The supermarket.  It's a glorious, glorious place full of anything and everything could ever dream of.  Except halloumi. 

Cars parked in parking lots and sidewalks used for walking. 

People who speak your language natively.

Neighbors who remember you and have been anxiously awaiting your return.

Family who, though they used to seem so very far away, are now within hugging distance.

Friends you've missed who you're able to call without fear of waking them up in the middle of the night.

The peace and contentment that can only come from being home.

Coincidentally, Sista Bear is heading to London as B comes home! Sista's doing the study abroad of all of our dreams over the summer.  We'll miss her terribly but can't wait to hear how her adventures turn out!