How These Days Grow Long, Til I Find My Way Back Home

So, obviously I love being down here in Mexico, the land of strange insects, dirt, and lots of people who can't understand a word I say (in spanish); but there are several things I've really been missing from home......here's my top 5:

1. QUOTING. Hands down, I miss quoting like crazy! Half my vocabulary is made up of quotes from Friends, SNL, or Mean Girls....sometimes Titanic, but only when Dana's around so we can annoy the crap out of everyone else! Almost daily there is some incident where a quote immediately comes to mind from some beloved tv show or movie, and I can't say it because none of the mexicants can understand me! Other times, the quote just comes outta me like word vomit (look, i'm quoting!) and the girls jsut give me a funny look and say...what?! I have been successful with 1 quote down here from Two Weeks Notice where Hugh Grant asks the fat black lady named Polly when her baby is due, and she responds (insert accent here) "Baby? What Baby?" Carla and I quote that 1, although she's never even seen the movie. I only told her about it because she loves black people!

2. Manchu Wok sesame chicken from the Brookwood food court in the Ham. Katie Bondurant, I hold you completely responsible for my addiction to this wonderful chinese cuisine! I have been craving it every day down here with no satisfaction! There's 1 chinese place in town called JoWah (very fun to say!) that serves up a good chicken fried rice, but its nothing in comparison to the savory taste of the sesame chicken from Manchu Wok, which you can buy in a huge quantity for a reasonable price if you as for it "to go" - again, thank you Katie!! I'm pretty sure I'll be making a special trip to Birmingham for it when I get back!

3. TV and Movies. Shocker, I know! Keeping in theme with my #1, I miss sitting at my apartment (well OK, I have no apartment, but if I did I would miss it!) watching tv for hours! It can be such a waste of time, but some of my best memories include watching Grey's Anatomy with all the girls every Thursday night and eating dinner together and spending quality time together, but only during commercial breaks! Also, Em Ray and I were known junior year for skipping class (sorry Mom!) and watching hours and hours upon seasons of 24, The O.C., and Sex and the City, even though at first we adamantly denied enjoying watching SATC and that we only watched it to make fun of the characters! I wish life could still be like that some days! I also really miss the whole movie theater experience.....paying almost $20 for your ticket, some snowcaps, and a very small coke.......it's totally worth it, you know why? PREVIEWS!! I love watching movie previews! It's amazing how the movie people can make even the worst movie ever, including one that stars Lindsay Lohan, look like a movie worth spending 10 bucks on! OK, top tv shows I miss the most:
LOST
The Office
Grey's Anatomy (even though y'all all tell me its not as good, i still miss it!)
FRIENDS reruns
Weeds

4. Diet Coke. I used to loathe diet coke. I was a regular coke-snob even (D, you can testify to that for me!). And then I went to college and met Hayden...the girl who drinks diet coke before the sun comes up! I was hooked. I love me some diet coke. It goes well with my #2- sesame chicken. Nobody down here drinks soda, and if they do, its like grapefruit soda....I mean, what the crap is grapefruit soda?! Its nasty! Oh, sure, I could buy myself a Coca-cola light and pretend like it's the same thing, but its NOT!! Oh, to have a diet coke again.....

5. Jim and Becky. How could I not miss them? They have been incredibly supportive in everything I've decided to do since graduating. I told them, "Hey, I'm moving to Mexico and I'm not really sure when I'm coming home, or what I'm going to do when I come back, and I won't be getting paid!" And they let me go...Pretty freakin cool! I miss them terribly and it's hard because I almost NEVER get to call home and talk to them and tell them all the things I wanna tell them, but they are faithful in their emails and are patient when I can't get a chance to write them back! Mom, Dad....I love y'all!

Of course, I miss all my friends TERRIBLY!!! It's so hard to get on facebook and read your emails and see how much y'all are growing and doing things and I am not up there to share it with y'all or to talk to y'all and be a part of what all of y'all are doing! Y'all are defintely a part of my family and to be away from y'all with little contact is really hard and makes my heart heavy! There are so many times when I wish y'all were all here to laugh with me about something or cry with me about something, or for y'all to just see what it is that I do down here every day and to share it with y'all......that part of being in nowhere Mexico is the part that sucks! BUT I can't wait to come home and hang out with all of y'all this summer!!