I finally realized what is holding me back from this whole overseas life thing: freedom. It's not a lack of freedoms like in North Korea, but rather the fact that I can't just go and do what I want to be able to go and do at any time. Some of it would be rectified if I had transportation, it was sunny 24 hours a day, or I was in a place with safe and adequate public transportation (like in Europe), but I'm not. I'm in Lusaka, and I'm therefore confined to walking in the safe parts of town or taking a taxi to a safe part of town (an experience I've done without for 3 weeks so far).
It's not a bad life--I'm living well--and the food I've eaten these last few weeks has been delicious and cheap by American standards, but I really want a good turkey sandwich from Panera (I just got an email from them, which is why I'm thinking about them) or to go to the supermarket and buy a bag of baby carrots and just eat them all (please don't judge me for this one). Instead, I feel constrained here. I did just find a bunch of new South African "fast food" chains at one of the malls--Steers, Debonair's Pizza, The Hungry Lion, and Nando's--as well as not-very-appealing-looking versions of Subway and KFC. Outside the food angle, I really want to go mini-golfing, but it's not like there's mini-golfing in Lusaka.
To compensate, I'm planning two excursions out of the city, one to Victoria Falls and one to Zimbabwe. Neither will get me my much-desired America fix, but they will at least get me away from what otherwise will become the monotony of the my life in Lusaka. Perhaps if I lived here full-time and not just for three months, so I had a full apartment or house and a car to get where I wanted to go, it would be different. In fact, I'm sure it would be. But there still wouldn't be a Panera, a good Subway, or baby carrots. It's the little things you miss the most when you suddenly don't have them for an extended period of time. And that is what I have learned so far; I'm learning what the little things I really like but take for granted back in the US are.
I'm also missing March Madness, resigned to follow the scores on ESPN.com, and it is weird to wake up at 6:00am for work and see that the games from the night before are still going on. I'm also not able to follow up with most of the TV shows I like. For some random reason, M-Net (a South Africa-based TV channel) has a weird obsession with The Voice and keeps airing episodes, which is good, and I can catch The Big Bang Theory via a weird app on my computer that shows episodes with Vietnamese subtitles. But that's it.
And that brings me to these two images. For the Vietnamese audience, the translators feel the need to explain some Americanisms, such as who Pee-Wee Herman is:
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But what's even better is when they can't figure out the "Americanisms," as this image shows:
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It's not how I usually watch the show, of course, but it is keeping me entertained. :) So finally, for this post's video of something that makes me happy, in honor of me finding the Nando's at Manda Hill, here's an oldie-but-goodie:
It's not a bad life--I'm living well--and the food I've eaten these last few weeks has been delicious and cheap by American standards, but I really want a good turkey sandwich from Panera (I just got an email from them, which is why I'm thinking about them) or to go to the supermarket and buy a bag of baby carrots and just eat them all (please don't judge me for this one). Instead, I feel constrained here. I did just find a bunch of new South African "fast food" chains at one of the malls--Steers, Debonair's Pizza, The Hungry Lion, and Nando's--as well as not-very-appealing-looking versions of Subway and KFC. Outside the food angle, I really want to go mini-golfing, but it's not like there's mini-golfing in Lusaka.
To compensate, I'm planning two excursions out of the city, one to Victoria Falls and one to Zimbabwe. Neither will get me my much-desired America fix, but they will at least get me away from what otherwise will become the monotony of the my life in Lusaka. Perhaps if I lived here full-time and not just for three months, so I had a full apartment or house and a car to get where I wanted to go, it would be different. In fact, I'm sure it would be. But there still wouldn't be a Panera, a good Subway, or baby carrots. It's the little things you miss the most when you suddenly don't have them for an extended period of time. And that is what I have learned so far; I'm learning what the little things I really like but take for granted back in the US are.
I'm also missing March Madness, resigned to follow the scores on ESPN.com, and it is weird to wake up at 6:00am for work and see that the games from the night before are still going on. I'm also not able to follow up with most of the TV shows I like. For some random reason, M-Net (a South Africa-based TV channel) has a weird obsession with The Voice and keeps airing episodes, which is good, and I can catch The Big Bang Theory via a weird app on my computer that shows episodes with Vietnamese subtitles. But that's it.
And that brings me to these two images. For the Vietnamese audience, the translators feel the need to explain some Americanisms, such as who Pee-Wee Herman is:
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