America, the beautiful

in honor of me having a dream about all things home related last night, i decided to finally get around to doing the post about things i miss about America. or appreciate more. mostly both. that, and i'm avoiding blogging and our vacation. cuz it's just plain gonna take a lot of effort. anyways. so, things i appreciate more about america:

 first, driving. i love driving. it's like ultimate freedom and stress relief and getting out and doing things and getting away from people and everything all at the same time. not to mention, lazy transportation. i miss driving a lot. although, not that i don't drive, and i take the metro, i have a TON of time to read. and i love that. trade off! this is what a typical russian car looks like. heather wants to take one home with her.

 a dryer. we have no dryer here. so, instead, we generally have clothes strewn about our apartment, and then when they dry they feel all gross and crusty and they have imprints from whatever they were hung on, and they don't shrink up like they should so that they fit again. i can't wait to go home and wash and dry my clothes, and put them on, warm and soft, again.

 i think america is a decently clean place. russia is dirty. there's just not enough trash cans in all of russia . there really is a shortage of them, and they need more. remember that pot hole full of trash? yeah. pretty gross. now i'm not saying america is a clean freaks kitchen, but it's not bad.

 tap water. i miss my sink! here, we either have to buy bottled water, or boil it, and filter it, and then put it in the fridge and it's STILL a funny color. we were spoiled in sweden when we got to drink the tap water. here, it's what we say we are going to do when we want to get sick enough to go home.

microwaves. so dang convenient. i am learning to eat more than just frozen or reheated food, and different ways to heat up that food, but still. sometimes a microwave would be nice when i get home and am starving and don't want to cook for a half hour before i can eat. we were spoiled and had one of these in estonia too.

most of all.... free public bathrooms. i've gotten pretty good at knowing where a few of those are here, but generally, you have to pay if ya really gotta go. and, whether free or not, i've been in probably 95% of the nastiest bathrooms i've been in, in my entire life, in these 3 months i've been in russia. it's kind of disgusting. in america, they're not bad at all, and you can find one in every building.

these things kinda stink, but, i still love russia!