Warning to the USA, we're coming home!

We've borrowed this idea from a fellow friend living in Tanzania and soon to return home, and we've updated the list with some changes. Since her name is mine in French, it seemed ok to steal it... Thanks Michelle!



We'll be back in the USA pretty soon. And we may be a little different than what you all who knew us remembered from a couple years ago. So we ask for your patience in dealing with us and coming to an understanding. Times when we'll especially need grace are:


-When we run for cover as the sun goes down, insisting that everyone shut the doors and get under their mosquito nets.

-When we use random Swahili words. Gently remind us that we speak English in America.

-When we stand in the cereal aisle and the check-out lane full of candy bars at the grocery store, mouth wide open, dumbfounded with all of the choices.

-When we get a jacket and ski cap every time the temperature drops to the 80’s.

-When driving and we approach an intersection. The technique we like to employ here is the "I'm bigger than you" philosophy. If my car is bigger than yours, I go and you stop. When the other car is a bus, I use the "I'm more agile than you" philosophy. I'm more agile than your bus full of passengers, therefore I go and you stop. It works, don't worry!

-When we drive on the left, and pass other cars on hills and curves and utilize sidewalks and ditches. (Did we mention that we won't have a vehicle this fall and would love to borrow yours for a few days?)

-When we try to negotiate the price of everything, everywhere.

-When we show up 3 hours late for our lunch appointment. Oh, and if you invite us, that means you're paying :).

-When bugs land in our food, and we continue eating.

-When we find something in the pantry full of unidentified living creatures and put it in the oven on low so all the bugs crawl out., then cook and eat.

-When we stare at you utterly confused upon references to movies, TV shows, music, and news.

-When we suggest a Toyota Camry as a perfectly acceptable mode of transportation for 12 people across town.

-When we set aside the restaurant menu and ask the waiter "What do you really have?"

-When we scream with excitement upon receiving mail.

-When our excitement increases, seeing that the mail hasn’t already been opened and pilfered.

Please be patient as we readjust to western civilization again.