eh titles are tedious

soooo this is probably completely cliche, but i just want to take a second to describe to you how completely awesome the littlest things are.

though there are many, many things that make jordan an almost impossible place to live (the last group of volunteers still have a little over half a year to go and they already have an over 50% dropout rate), one great thing about living in a country that is developed is how applicable the lessons that i learn here are to my life back in the states (if i ever choose to return) (jk mom, breathe). what i mean is, i can see having revelations about how little you truly need to survive and be happy while living in a hut in africa. however, upon returning to the u.s. of a. you certainly are going to have access to running water and all of life's little amenities. however, here in the jordan we have almost everything that is available at home, albeit at unattainable prices. the point is: the things that i get used to not having, or realize that i do need to keep me happy can be transferred to my life at home.

for example. my mother (give her a hug for me if you can. no don't, she'll hate it, but maybe offer to shake her hand) sent me some sheets in the mail. for some reason i have not been able to find any fitted and topsheets here, even though a lot of people have regular beds. so i've been going without and just sleeping on the weird fabric the mattress (thats a lie its a thin slab of low-density foam) is covered in. i have no way of knowing if the family who lived here before me ever covered this mattress, washed it, aired it, anything, but i sleep on it every night. or at least every night until this one. today i got to put wonderful, perfect, jersey-knit dark blue sheets on my bed. i thought i was going to hyperventilate with happiness. i was skipping around whistling like snow white while making my bed. Making A Bed. it was heaven. and now i am sitting here, between the sheets, drinking a cup of spiced chai tea and eating easter chocolate, and i can't think of anything that could make me happier. well that's not entirely true, you can always think of things that you would upgrade to; we're just programmed that way i guess. but i can't think of anything that i NEED to make me feel happier. sheets, tea and chocolate. that's it.

now i'm sure i'll get home and go out and eat a burger a night, spend way too much money on a new computer, new (any) clothes, and everything else. and everyone will say 'oh see, isn't america so much better, look at everything you can have.' but i just hope that i can retain some of the joy i get here from the littlest things, and remember not to spend so much time thinking about the things that i want (a panini with lots of melted mozzarella) and more time thinking about how freaking delicious my tea is.