Bad Habits

I picked up three bad habits [that I’ve noticed] while I was in Honduras.

1) Eating candy/snacks in the morning. I’d eat it around 7:30/8 down there. I know my dentist would be proud. But in my defense I got up around 4:30/5 their time and we wouldn’t eat breakfast until 8:30. And I always eat right when I get up. So I’d get really hungry and needed something to hold me over until it was time for breakfast. Plus I never changed over to their time since I was only there for a week and the kids got up at 5 anyway (which was also why I was up at 4:30/5 every morning) so really, I was eating it around 9:30/10). Unfortunately, I now crave candy and snacks when I get up instead of regular breakfast foods.

2) I have become a sugar snob. again. They use real sugar in everything. Here we use fructose which is not the same thing. Sugar tastes sooo much better. So now everything tastes a little off. (This always happens when I return from overseas.) The other day, I was at a fast food restaurant and I was getting a Coke. I tasted it and it was weird. I thought it was flat or something. So I tried another one. It tasted the same. Apparently it was fine. It was just me. Being a sugar snob. Because it didn’t have real sugar in it like I got used to the short week I was in Honduras.

3) Hugs. I have never been a touchy feely person. I prefer waving over hugging. Head nods over high fives. I usually have a very large personal space bubble. But that changes when I’m around these kids. Maybe it’s because I know they need as much loving as they can get. Maybe I know it’s part of their culture as well.  But whatever the reason, something changes and I don’t mind.

So while I was down there I got used to hugging on the kids and having them hanging all over. It doesn’t bother me. Except when I came back, I apparently picked up the bad habit of hugging. I didn’t notice it because I’ve been saying goodbye (for Albania) a lot lately and so it’s appropriate. Until I went to hug a girl who apparently didn’t want to be hugged. I think she preferred a verbal goodbye over a hug. But I was already too far into the hug to back out. She didn’t hug back. She just waited for me to let her go. I felt like I stole a hug. Not a good feeling. So anyway, hugging is a good habit to have. In Honduras. Where no one has much personal space. But back home, it’s a bad habit when you’re around people who are like the typical me and have large personal space bubbles.

–If you see me eating candy and snacks when I first get up, please don’t judge me (or tell my dentist).
–If you see me making a sour face after tasting softdrinks or anything without the real sugar in it, don’t judge me. Give me a minute for my tastebuds to Americanize.
–If you see me coming in for a hug, don’t judge me. Gently step to the side and remind me I’m not in Honduras. Whatever you do, don’t just stand there and let me steal another hug. Prevention is best here.

Be patient as I readjust (just in time to leave for Albania).

[I’m still working on editing pictures but I hope to have a full post about our trip up soon. Be patient!! It’s worth it. Trust me.]