At least for me, the following items make life much nicer.
1. Coffee. I live where coffee is grown, from what I'm told. So far I have been drinking Maxwell House because that is what they have at the PX, and I haven't gotten groceries anyplace else. I need coffee as close to when I get out of bed in the morning as possible. Some mornings here I have had to wait until I'm on post and at the DFac before I've had coffee. Technically, they have coffee here at the restaurant, but it usually isn't ready before I need to leave for work. I now have a coffee maker in my room. It's a cheap plastic one, and I can smell warm plastic while I'm pouring my coffee instead of just nice coffee aroma. I think about how I'm not in the US where they have standards for things like that. But, I drink my coffee gratefully. Maxwell House, plastic smell and all.
2. A Rag. No, not that kind. Just a plain wash rag, not white. I spill things. I wash out things (such as my coffee maker) and want to dry it. It was amazing to me how often I wanted a piece of fabric to wipe over things when I didn't have one. The hotel gives me one white bath towel. I didn't want to use it to wipe up coffee spills, and I didn't want to use my bath towel to dry out my coffee cup. Then I remembered I have my chamois with me - don't know if it's a sham-wow or whatever the cool brand is - and now I'm happy. I use it and rinse it and use it again. It's the little things...
3. Transportation. I have said I'm going car-less. That is not technically correct. I am choosing not to own a car here, and so far I haven't driven a car here. Did I mention the drivers here are crazy? However, I still need transportation. I miss the freedom to just go out and jump into my Jeep and go to a store, or just drive around or go where every I want to safely. The cabs a good for getting to and from work, and I need to stop using it as an excuse to not hit the gym after work because I can call them an hour later just as well. I haven't gone shopping in town yet, and I will be mindful that I'll have to lug whatever I buy home in a cab. I don't need much, but it's the idea. Like cleanliness, it's doable here, I just have to actually think about it. There are lots of bicyclists here. I don't feel safe riding around here because I don't know the culture. I am impressed with how the bicycles are transportation more than sport to the locals. The horizontal structural bar is the passenger seat on the bikes here. I see people who have kids sitting on that bar almost every day. Today I saw a guy with a woman (girlfriend? wife?) sitting on it while he dutifully pedaled along. Looked like he was giving her a ride to work. It also looked like a lot of work for him. The people riding in the back of trucks is very common, usually as many as there is room for. Having a means of transportation here seems to be unusual, and something to be shared with family and friends as necessary.
4. Communication. I have whined about this before. It is tiring not being able to just talk to the vast majority of folks I come into contact with. A large number of Hondurans here do speak English to some degree. Probably more of them speak English than the number of Anglo's who speak Spanish in a US city. I have learned there is a difference between talking and communicating. I can sometimes communicate well with a person where I share no common language words and other times a person who knows words of English I can not communicate well with at all. I have at times been kidded up at home about 'talking' with my hands. Here that is a good thing. It helps me actually communicate. I am working on learning Spanish, and that is one reason I came down here. In the meantime it is frustrating.
I'll probably find more to add to these lists as time goes on. I know there are things I won't take for granted again once I get back home.
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