Top Ten Things I’ll Miss When I Return Home

Posted in Reflections by Nathan Clendenin on August 16th, 2005

NOT REALLY

10. Dialup – Usually a web guy’s kryptonite, but not me. I love paying $10 and waiting an hour for photos to upload.

9. Separate Faucets – Who needs warm water? I much prefer either scalding or freezing.

8. The Looks – I’ve really gotten used to being stared at everywhere I go, and I’ll really miss the myriad kids yelling, “Shoot me!”

7. McDonald’s – somehow it took coming to the opposite end of the world to find my hidden love for the largest chain of grease peddlers on the planet. I will especially miss the pukey-burp aftertaste.

6. Mental Math – I never was good at it, but I’ve grown to love dividing by 6.5 (or multiplying by 1.4 in Spain) in my head in order to figure out I’m definitely paying more than I would back home.

REALLY

5. Community – from burying loved ones to visiting neighbors, these people know how to care for each other.

4. People who still love Americans – I’ve gotten plenty of “ohs” and “we don’t like Bush” comments everywhere else I’ve been, except South Africa. I’m actually respected here — people come up and thank me for taking pictures at their loved one’s funeral.

3. Having all day every day to shoot photos – busy but focused is how I like it. Grad school is more like busy, unfocused, tired, stressed, wish I could just find time to eat a real meal.

2. Singing all the time – I’ve been doing it since I was 2, but here I’m just another voice in the crowd. I’ve been learning some African songs, but there’s never a shortage of good old American 80’s music around here.

1. Beautiful Shining Faces.

Originally Posted on Vicarious Summer Blog