First World Problems

When I first came home from two years in Africa, I marveled at how people were able to complain about the silliest things. Like traffic, for example. What's the big deal about waiting at a stop light for a couple of extra minutes? At least people follow traffic laws around here. At least you're not crammed in a minivan full of sweaty people and chickens. At least you have AIR CONDITIONING.

#amIright?

But  I found myself adjusting to life back in America rather quickly. It took me two years to decelerrate to the pace of life in Africa, and just a few months to surge back into full-velocity America: job apps, wedding planning, GMAT studying and all.
At my workout class last week, the trainer had us jump onto a moving treadmill. I came this close to eating it the moment my feet touched that moving track.
And THAT'S how reintegration into America was...clumsy recovery and all. But once I was on there, I was moving, and moving, and moving.

The fact is, it's easy to get caught up in the simplest annoyances, no matter where you are.
In Mozambique, it infuriated me that people didn't know how to properly wait in lines, or show up on time for meetings. I found the mosquitos pesky, the creepy men vexing, the lack of structure  annoying.

Nowadays, it irritates me when I'm in the elevator at work going to the 9th floor and it stops on the 2nd floor to let in somebody who is just going to the 3rd floor. I tap my foot with impatience, wondering why they can't just take the damn stairs. I catch myself thinking, "Oh my God, this is taking FOREVER."  And then I laugh because okay, wait- is it really taking forever? A few extra minutes in a spacious, air-conditioned elevator is better than two hours in the African heat waiting for a meeting that may never start, any day.

I work in such a fancy office building with automatic flushing toilets that sometimes, I forget to manually flush when I'm out somewhere else. How bougey of a problem is that? And yeah it's ironic, because a year ago my bathroom was a hole in the ground.

I was so afraid that reintegrating into America would erase the Africa in me, but I realize it hasn't. I may be doing the same things I did before I left for Mozambique, but the way I look at things has changed. I'll never take a grocery store or plush double ply toilet paper for granted. I'll always appreciate the luxury of having wifi, reliable cell phone service, my own car.

The other day a fellow RPCV called to vent about having to drive back to the gym to pick up his Kindle, after he had accidentally left it there. "At least somebody returned it and it wasn't stolen. At least you don't have to walk back in 110 degree heat, or hitchike on the back of an open bed truck filled with produce, over a super bumpy dirt road," I said. He sighed. "I know. You're right. I feel better now."

Sometimes first world problems remind us of just that, we are lucky enough to live in a first world country.

Thank you, Peace Corps, for giving me that perspective.