Blackberry fever!

Berries are one of the foods Andrew and I miss the most when we're in Tanzania.  We can get all sorts of fabulous tropical fruits in Musoma, but there are NO BERRIES!  One of my highlights of being in the States (thus far) is that we're here for blackberry season.  Berries are dripping off the vines all along the road near where we live.  It's so fun to pick them, and I can't get over how nice it is to be outdoors without anyone noticing or bothering me.  And best of all, they are free!  Imagine: beautiful, ripe berries a mere 1/4 mile from your front door, just begging to be picked.  We're busy filling our stomachs and our freezer with blackberries and I'm having a terrific lot of fun doing it.  I feel so American!

Oh, and if you have a really good blackberry cobbler recipe, please e-mail it to me!

Baby registry

I've debated for quite some time about putting this post up here, because I don't want y'all to think that I'm getting pushy and asking for baby gifts.  However, I am aware that some of you are the type who would really like to give wee Zarya a gift and want it to be something I actually need.  So, in the interest of helping you be practical and knowing what sorts of things we would find useful and have to have before we return to Tanzania in January, this is the link to where I'm "registered".  It's not really a registry, but an online wishlist: www.wishcentral.com.  You can look up my list under the name "Michelle Sandeen".  If you decide you'll be getting one of the items there, you can mark it as reserved so that others know it's already been claimed and avoid duplicates.

Culture shock?

We've now been in the States for one month and during this month we've been asked pretty frequently if we are experiencing reverse culture shock.  I know that many people who have spent extended time away from their home culture have a time of transition and cultural readjustment after returning, but I don't think we are very much.  What we are experiencing is a heightened awareness of noticing things.  Things that seemed very ordinary to us before going to Tanzania, we now notice.  A few are good things and a few are bad things, but for the most part they are simply neutral, normal things that stand out to us a bit.

Things that catch my attention:

• The sun doesn't rise at 6:20 every morning and set at 6:45 every evening year-round like it does in Musoma!
• American people are all different colors.
• Drivers stop at traffic lights and stop signs even when there are no other vehicles at the intersection.  For that matter, there ARE traffic lights and stop signs!
• Americans are very focused on safety (or avoiding lawsuits, at least).  There are safety labels on nearly everything, warnings in all sorts of places about possible hazards, and hundreds of street signs noting upcoming curves, speed limits, and animals that might possibly be around.
• Weather is a common conversation topic here.  It's about the same in Tanzania every day, so why discuss it?
• You can recycle in the States.  Don't just toss that can in the trash!
• There is pavement all over the place!  I haven't driven on a dirt road yet.  Even people's driveways are often paved!
• Groceries are really expensive in America, and there are simply too many choices for everything.  Do you want 15-grain, 100% whole wheat, double-fiber, seed & nut, or honey oat bread?

And the big one...

It's so CLEAN here!!!  Everything is just fresh and spankin' CLEAN - where is all the dust?  Where did the bugs go?  How about the trash, gecko droppings, and critter crud?  I just cannot get over how very, very wonderfully clean American homes and streets are - I guess all that pavement has a purpose.