Differences

I've been back in the US for about 24hrs and over 12 of that has been by myself, in my quiet apartment. Which has been wonderful as far as processing/resting after traveling. Some of the thoughts that have run through my head since my last post concerning the differences between Brasil & the USA are as follows:

Before I left for Brasil, I had never spent a whole night in a hammock, upon returning, I slept only one night the whole trip in a real bed, and all the rest in a hammock, and LOVED it.

It is typical to shower 3 or more times a day in Brasil. Here I'm doing good if I shower once a day.

Last night I was going to the bathroom, and after throwing the used tissue in the trash, I remembered I was back in the US.

I can fill my glass here with water from the tap...not so in Brasil.

It is cold here. I am dreading going outside and it is 40 degrees here today! Think it's really time to pull out the mittens and scarves!

I have so much stuff. And I really don't need it all.

I worry much more about what I'm going to wear here. The whole time in Brasil I only wore 2 pairs of pants and re-wore shirts, no one really cares what one wears, sure there are social guidelines and things that are more respectable than others, but the actual articles of clothing do not matter as much as here in the states. I'm sure people there get consumed with fashion just as much as I do or others do here, but for me it was not as consuming, and maybe that's because I'm American? and respected their fashion lines.

I loved the simplicity of life. Maybe that had to do with being in the agricultural region of Brasil. There was no rushing about and for me, really no worrying. The Brasilians are so quiet and easy going. They love to laugh and have fun and truly care about others. Here there is a time line for everything, and when something falls out of that time line, people feel like the world as they know it is ending right that moment!

Differences are good, one is not better than the other, but there are some things in each of these cultures that I prefer over the other. Like the hot shower I just enjoyed, that was wonderful. But I would rather have fresh bread, butter, bacon, eggs, cheese and coffee for breakfast (like in Brasil) rather than the majorly processed choices I have here.