Things to Miss

We will be leaving Arambol soon, and I started thinking about things good and bad, here and there.

Here are some of the things that came to mind...

Things I miss about the US	Things I don’t miss about the US	Things I will miss about Arambol	Things I won’t miss about Arambol
·   Hot showers ·   Tools that work (Jacob) ·   My bed ·   Oma & Opa ·   US friends and family ·   Drinking water from the tap ·   Milk that comes in cartons, not baggies ·   The ability to cook easily ·   Set prices that don’t change based on the color of your skin ·   Homegrown veggies ·   Homegrown eggs and our chickens ·   Thrift stores and garage sales ·   Mexican people ·   Real Mexican food ·   Cheap but good peanut butter ·   Good bread and cheese ·   Clean meat ·   Restaurants with health codes ·   Trash collectors ·   Art supplies at a reasonable price ·   Food Josiah can eat ·   Food without preservatives ·   My washing machine ·   Fireplaces ·   Pine and cedar trees ·   The Sierras ·   A mirror that I can see my whole self in ·   Flower gardens ·   Mixing my own henna ·   Soap that’s not slimy ·   Internet that works ·   Being able to get a lot of things done ·   Trader Joe’s ·   Public libraries ·   Having a phone ·   Blenders that work ·   Freedom to go places by myself ·   Surfers ·   Bike rides ·   Backpacking ·  Mockingbirds	·      People isolated in their own houses ·      Expensive vegetables ·      Snooty, mall-loving people who are so rich and don’t even think about the rest of the world ·      Hollywood media ·      Giant SUVs ·      Rap music blaring out of people’s cars ·      Brand name fashion ·      Cars and traffic ·      Over-regulation ·      US Politics ·      No one having enough free time to just ‘be’ together ·      Few people with similar ideals ·      The cost of living ·      Being so far from the beach ·      Cold oceans ·      Tons of soy-based food ·      Junkmail	·   Pigs running free ·   Friends at every turn in the road ·   People hanging out outside all the time ·   Not a lot of TV ·   Cheesy billboards and misspelled English signs ·   Rosario yelling some unintelligible thing ·   Curry plants ·   Swimming in the warm ocean water ·   Going to the beach every day ·   Scooters ·   Royal Enfields ·   Feeling like you could do any crazy thing and no one would even look twice ·   Friends from everywhere ·   Always being warm ·   Being tan ·   Live music ·   Creativity flowing ·   Living in a circus ·   Wild parrots and kingfishers ·   Monkeys in trees ·   Samosas, Uttapam, Dosas, and Puri Bhaji ·   Talking to people from all over the world ·   Going to meditation here ·   Kids playing soccer ·   Bhindis, bangles, and saris ·   Jogging on the beach ·   Elephants ·   The sunset gathering ·   People to drum with (Jacob) ·   Chai chai chai for 5 rupees ·   Dreads and tattoos ·   Guys wearing lunghis ·   Cool clothes for cheap ·   People juggling ·   Toothless and bow-legged old people ·   Seeing construction worker women in bright saris ·   Not a lot of laws (at least not many that anyone follows) ·   Goan Catholic ladies’ dresses ·   Maria’s sweet idli ·   Colors everywhere ·   Talking about spiritual things with almost anyone ·   The quicksilver ocean at sunset ·   Never knowing who you will meet today ·   Funny things in English that non-native English speakers say ·   Coconut palms ·   Strangers who smile at you ·   Hermit crabs ·   Sand art ·   Jaya’s cooking skills ·   Geckos on our walls ·   Indian children ·   Our parrot	·   Ants in my computer ·   Ants in my bed ·   Ants in my cooking ·   Ants in the sink ·   Ants in my clothes ·   ANTS ·   Power that turns off at any random time ·   Rosario yelling some unintelligible thing ·   Burning plastic smoke choking me ·   Trash everywhere ·   The inability to cook ·   Getting ripped off ·   “Mosquito Time” ·   Horns honking ·   Gypsies trying to sell you jewelry and sarongs on the beach every five minutes ·   Beggars, because you never know who is behind their begging ·   Sewage in the street ·   My kids being covered in dirt and sand ·   The chaos of a mob of children in the dirt and sand ·   Half-naked westerners and gawking Indian men ·   Cockroaches and rats and poisonous snakes ·   The putrid smell of Rosario’s bull ·   People trying to be  ‘cool’ ·   Russian people arguing ·   Seeing construction worker women, because they work so hard for so little ·   Pollution ·   Corrupt police ·   Loan sharks and mafia controlling things ·   Idol worship ·   Having to bargain for almost everything you buy ·   Techno music ·   Cigarette smoke ·   Mold ·   Rampant fear and superstition ·   Beach dogs ·   Piles of poo ·   Cesspools ·   Being called ‘madam’ ·   Men peeing all over ·   The smell of rancid coconut oil ·   Speedos with thong backs on fat hairy men ·   Crows ·   Not being able to find what you need without going all over the state ·   Goan music blaring out of crappy speakers on full blast ·   Cockroaches in my bathroom towel ·   Starving, sick dogs ·   Friends that leave with your heart L