I Shall Never Complain Again

The following is a list of things that I never thought twice about having my whole life. And now that I'm doing without, I have vowed to never take them for granted again.

Washer and Dryer- Have you ever tried to dry your clothes outside in a humid place where it rains EVERY SINGLE DAY? It’s pretty difficult, because your clothes never truly get dry, and they never truly smell the same ever again. It’s unfortunate.  Also, washing clothes in the sink was fun for the first… ohhh 12 or so articles of clothing. Try ringing out a pair of jeans. Followed by two jackets, a blanket and 6 BYU-Idaho T-shirts. It’s a work out.

Clean water- 

Making top ramen? Hot Cocoa? Soup? Brushing your teeth? Anything that you “Just add water” to? No big deal in the States. Big deal in Peru. The water isn’t clean and must be boiled before consumption. This was also kind of fun at the beginning, now it’s kind of a nuisance.

Children who speak the same language as you- 

Disciplining children is hard enough as it is. Try disciplining a child in a language you don’t really know. Even if you do find the right words to say, the child is going to say something back and while you’re frantically flipping through your Spanish/English dictionary trying to figure out what they just said, the child has already fled the scene of the crime and is beating up some other kid. Ooof. Help.

How do I get them off of me?!!?

Hot Showers- Last Friday Brittany went on an intense run uphill in the sunshine and finished it off with P90 Ab RipperX. I thought to myself, “ok I am dirty, I am sweaty, my blood is pumping, I’m warm, this is a perfect time to hop in the shower!” So I do, as soon as Tony said that we were done with our 335^th ab exercise, I bolted for the showers thinking that the ICE COLD water wouldn’t phase me as much. False.  I jumped in full force and the breath was literally knocked out of me. It took me a second to realize that the reason I couldn’t breathe was because I had sent my body into shock. Not fun, not fun. Ohhh what I wouldn’t give for the chance to sit in an oversized bathtub filled with scalding water and bubbles for several hours.

 Breathing- Have I ever mentioned that I am living at 9022 ft above sea level? That’s pretty high.. it doubles Rexburg’s altitude.  For the first two weeks, it was kind of hard to breathe…especially when walking up hill or up the stairs. I also got super light headed every single time I stood up.  I still do every once in a while, but it’s not nearly as bad.

Those are just a few that were on my mind today. I definitely have a new found appreciation for MANY things that I have taken for granted for years and years. To think.. just a few months ago, I thought it was such a pain to have to carry all my laundry down the hall to my apartment complexes' laundry room. Or when I complained about it being hard to run in Rexburg because of the altitude. My how things have changed.

-Elia